GUEST SPEAKER SERIES | GUILLAUME DE SEYNES, Executive VP of Manufacturing and Equity Investments, Hermès

 

By Nybol Majok
(GMBA - Luxury Brand Management)

For more than 185 years, Hermès has been one of the most iconic and well recognized brands in the world. The French luxury brand was established in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès, who founded the business selling high quality harnesses and bridles to the French elite and noblemen of his time. Under the direction of Thierry’s grandson, Emile-Maurice, the Hermès brand would elevate and expand outside of its niche. Eventually, the brand’s offerings expanded to handbags, silks and textiles, watches, fragrance, and more. Today, the Hermès family continues the brand’s tradition of unique craftsmanship and savoir-faire, which has cemented the brand’s superior quality and exclusivity.

The ESSEC GMBA Luxury Brand Management participants had the special honor of having Guillaume de Seynes, the current Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Equity Investments and Member of the Executive Committee for Hermès, be a guest speaker and give a presentation. Monsieur de Seynes is the sixth generation of the Hermès family to run the business, and is also an alumnus of Essec Business School. Students had the opportunity to ask Monsieur de Seynes questions about the brand’s current market position and how Hermès continues to innovate and attract new customers. In response, Monsieur de Seynes stated that Hermès continues to stay committed to honoring its artisanal heritage and upholdings its principles of refinement and high quality. Nearly every product produced by Hermès is handmade by their skilled craftsmen in one of Hermès’s 52 ateliers based in France. As quoted by former CEO Jean-Louis Dumas, “we don’t have a policy of image, we have a policy of product”. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that Hermès has maintained such signficant cultural currency in both luxury and the world.