What's Next: Luxury Products

Pierre-Alexis Dumas embraces innovation. But as the sixth-generation member of his family to lead, in his case, the creative end of the French luxury house Hermès, he must uphold tradition, as well.

Best known for its leather goods such as the Birkin bag, Hermès -- which began in 1837 as a saddle shop in Paris -- currently has 17 departments creating products that range from perfume, apparel and tableware to jewelry, cashmere throws and yes, saddles. Over the past two years Mr. Dumas, as the company's artistic director, has expanded Hermès's offerings to include a $7.6 million helicopter, a $2.1 million car and a $109 million yacht.

"My grandfather used to tell me luxury is what you can repair," says the 43-year-old Mr. Dumas.

Hermes

The Bugatti Veyron hermes special edition

Indeed, many Hermès bags have been handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter. But to stay relevant to today's affluent consumers, many of whom are defined by a culture of pomp and flash, Hermès and others must play along.

Mr. Dumas graduated from Brown University in the U.S. with a degree in visual arts and has worked at Hermès -- first in Paris, then Hong Kong and London -- since 1993. As head of the company's Asian subsidiaries from 1996 to 1998, he presided over the opening of the first Hermès store in China in 1997.

Time being the ultimate luxury, Mr. Dumas recently took some to have tea with Weekend Journal Asia in Hong Kong, and he shared his thoughts on the future of luxury. He is married with three children under the age of 12, and when he can, he likes to paint at a studio he keeps in Paris.

Of all the things you're doing at the moment, what excites you most?

Working on large-scale design; until recently, the largest Hermès product was a suitcase.

And now?

We make a helicopter with a company called Eurocopter, a subsidiary of the European space agency. We don't just come in and do decoration. With a helicopter, the priority is that it flies. We improved the design. We thought of someone stepping into the helicopter, it's a delicate moment, so we added a step -- it is a small detail that improves the performance. Recently Mr. [Minoru] Mori [the property tycoon] in Japan bought one, and he set up a small company that does a city transfer from the airport in Narita.

How many have you sold?

We've delivered two and we have six orders. We just launched it a year ago. We're not into volume, especially in this large-scale design. It's the level of quality.

And now you want to build yachts?

That's a very large-scale design.

What is the price tag on that?

Between €80 to €110 million ($109 million to $150 million). The industry standard is €1 million ($1.4 million) per meter. A super-yacht is about 100 meters long. Our boat, which we make with the Wally [yacht-building] company, is 56 meters. And this is why it's very original: Our boat is extremely wide.

We have this odd shape because we decided to [build a boat that would travel] slow....Speed is so passé. What is the luxury for tomorrow? One of them is time.

What do you think of our culture of constant change?

Last May, I bought a new portable computer. After a while, it broke down. It went to the computer doctors and I'm going to get a new one. They tell me, We can fix it but it's going to be more expensive than buying a new one. I have a problem with that. I feel that incredible sense of waste. Maybe we're going too fast, maybe there's a feeling of acceleration of everything. We have to slow down.

That said, do you have a favorite disposable object?

A pencil. If you throw your pencil away, it means you've used it. It means you've used your brain, your imagination, you've been writing and drawing.

What's next for your company?

Twenty years ago we did a hard-case suitcase in carbon fiber. It was quite innovative. I am very interested in expanding the line. We have to reinvent ourselves. If we launch a perfume and it is like what we did in the '70s, what's the point? We are constantly reassessing who we are. Hermès is going to expand more on space and home. If you have a very large boat, what are you going to put inside?

What is the relationship between art, creativity and luxury?

In the last 50 years there has been a shift from brand-centered companies to design-centered companies. People come to contribute to Hermès like it is a collective creative project. Jean Paul Gaultier [the designer of the company's fashion line] has his own brand, he does beautiful couture. At Hermès, he tries to express what the Hermès woman is. We continue to invite talents, fashion designers, architects, designers, to contribute to the Hermès project.

—Alexandra A. Seno is a writer based in Hong Kong.

Posted in: Birkin bag,leather goods,Luxury Products