Think of the French luxury house founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès and certain words spring to mind: care, artisanship, time, endeavour, excellence. It is certainly not a company one associates with splurging or impetuousness. And yet, according to Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Hermès’s artistic director, and Axel Dumas, its CEO, the new London flagship, or “Maison”, at 166 New Bond Street was an impulse buy.
The site, which had belonged to Asprey since 1847, was a higgledy-piggledy arrangement of six terraced houses – five of which were conceived in the 1770s, with shops below. All the houses were Grade II listed and internally linked. Over the centuries, the 55-room complex had evolved to accommodate everything from banal office space to jewellery workshops and retail, all interspersed with modern interventions including, most importantly, an impressive Norman Foster-designed spiral staircase and matching courtyard roof.
© Alixe Lay
In need of a bigger property in London, Hermès signed for the building within 72 hours of being approached in 2009. Axel Dumas, who was made CEO in 2013, can thank his predecessor, Patrick Thomas, for the purchase. They thought the structure would be habitable by about 2039. “We knew the facade, and the location, and we loved the building,” Axel says. But, mostly, the decision was based on “good vibes”. “That’s the magic of Hermès,” shrugs Axel. “We either take months to make a decision, and it seems endless, or we do it very quickly… Most of the time it takes months.”
