Not many people know that Hermès’s first—and only—book of corporate history takes the form of a manga. In Le Chemin d’Hermès (The path of Hermès, 1997), manga artist Keiko Takemiya, an avid horseback rider, depicts Jean-Louis Dumas, the company’s 5th chairperson and an admirer of Japanese culture, as he tells the long history of Hermès from its founding in 1837. A new edition of Le Chemin d’Hermès was published in 2021, containing three new stories: “The Birth of Ginza Maison Hermès”, “The Saut Hermès”, and “The Launch of Petit H”. This edition positions Ginza Maison Hermès as an important part of the company’s history.

For younger readers, there is Osampo Stecchi: An Hermès Picture Book (Stitching while strolling; published by Kodansha in 2022), the first picture book produced by Hermès. The title features a story and illustrations created by 100%ORANGE, an artistic duo known for their colourful drawings, which are designed to convey to children the joy of crafting. The pair imbues the book with the sense of joy and satisfaction that comes from making things by hand—which they say came into sharp focus when they were immersing themselves in the artisanal worlds of Hermès workshops around France. At the silk workshop, they watched craftspeople produce Carré scarves by using stencilled plates to print one colour at a time onto the silk—a process and technique that they were surprised to find is nearly identical to those used to make picture books.

The caption boxes in Le Chemin d’Hermès are chock-full of interesting side stories and anecdotes, and Osampo Stecchi comes with a few fun surprises as well! We hope that these books will find their way into many people’s hands, touching hearts and minds through their depiction of Hermès’s history and spirit of craftsmanship, as well as the joy of making things and sharing one’s creations with others.