Get Floored: The New Hermès

Last year, the men’s floor of the Hermès Madison Avenue shop moved across the street into its own store. Renovations continued, and last night, the flagship shop held a cocktail party to celebrate the unveiling of its new main floor. Designed by Parisian architectural agency RDAI, the expanded space now gives proper dedication to the brand’s iconic silks scarves and popular accessories, like the “H” belts and the enamel bracelets customers are fond of stacking. “We have a significant enamel business, and we were doing it out of three feet of space,” explained Robert Chavez, President and CEO of Hermès USA of the call for the redesign. “It was to give more breathing space.”

A personalized silk scarf station is also a wonderful new feature on the floor. Customers can choose their dream selection of designs, colors, initials, date, and place, and have it embroidered with a special message. “Say it’s your mom’s birthday and you wanted to give her a really special gift. You could get ‘Happy Birthday Mom, May 2, 2011, Love, Kelley’ embroidered. It could be a proposal. There are so many wonderful things you can do with it. We’re very excited about it,” said Chavez.

Hermes has continually managed to keep its accessories iconic and in demand.  What’s the trick to an everlasting brand? Chavez shared with Interview: “The secret is really about the timelessness of the design and the quality.  People appreciate that it’s handcrafted.” Now that’s something worth keeping for a lifetime.