Hermes: Straight from the Horse's Mouth

Drawn from the archives of Hermès, here is a delightful illustrated collection of enchanting stories and profiles that trace the odyssey of the luxury design family business founded by Thierry Hermès in 1837.
 
A leather-clad wheelbarrow to store the Duchess of Windsor’s many gloves, a capricious apple tree, an extraordinary museum, an iconic bag, and a 40-year-old diary in the spotlight—these are among the characters and objects that tell the story of Hermès: Straight from the Horse’s Mouth.
 
Author Luc Charbin brings to life the voices of the saddlers, sales assistants, window-dressers, silversmiths, and gardeners of Hermès across several generations, accompanied by the distinctive drawings of Alice Charbin.
 

This irresistible, authorized, illustrated gift book from the luxury brand Hermès is an homage, in stories and drawings, to the artisans and craftsmen who have been the foundation of the iconic brand since its beginnings as a saddle-maker for the carriage trade in 19th-century Paris. The stories are short, pithy, often quite witty, and they include first-person accounts from the leather artisans, silk manufacturers, and goldsmiths, gardeners, window dressers, designers, and electricians who have plied their craft at Hermes.We learn about quirky characters in the atelier who refuse to share their tools, of an elevator ride with a visiting President Nixon that went badly wrong, of a life-sized white rhinoceros made for a window display that disappears in Switzerland, reappears in Colorado, and returns, eventually, to Paris. A concise and witty company history, the book shares genuine love for the craft of producing luxury goods of the highest quality. Even if you can’t afford to buy your partner a Hermès bag or wallet, you can afford to give them this enchanting book.