Aug 24, 2026 – 11.33amTucked into an arcade in the centre of London is the world’s smallest Hermès boutique, just 55 square metres. “It’s the tiniest, sweetest, loveliest Hermès store,” says Florian Craen who, as executive vice-president of sales and distribution, is responsible for all of them. “We even have a plaque out front.” Located in the Square Mile in the heart of the financial district, the Hermès at Royal Exchange is closed on weekends and after 6pm; it’s there, says Craen, to serve the nearby office workers. So it’s a sort of Hermès convenience store, asks The Australian Financial Review Magazine? “Yes,” he replies. “For bankers.”And it is, he observes, very different from the leviathan, labyrinthine maison that Hermès opened in June on London’s New Bond Street. Six buildings dating from the 1760s, each five storeys high, joined around a central atrium with a spiral staircase that was designed by Sir Norman Foster for the previous tenants (and to which two extra floors had to be added, creating yet-another heritage approval to contend with). There are 55 rooms. It was only on AFR Magazine’s third visit that we found the menswear section.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Matthew DrummondAFR Magazine editorMatthew Drummond edits AFR Magazine, our premium monthly inserted magazine that covers business, politics, fashion, design, food and wine, and is home to the Rich List, Young Rich List and the Power lists.Fetching latest articles