Chapters: 0:00 Intro 2:00 Standard Playbook of High Fashion Leaders 2:43 Gucci's Rocketship Growth 4:28 YSL's Traditionalist Approach 5:30 Moncler's Small Player Resurgence 6:10 The Magic of Hermès 7:35 Tradition & Craftsmanship Above All 9:18 Expensive, Elusive, and Exclusive 10:15 A True Test of Loyalty If you prefer reading over watching, the written transcript of this episode is available here: medium.com/@modernmba/h%C3%A8rmes-the-modest-king-of-luxury-fashion-d128b87be499
Hermès was the first luxury brand to sell online. The availability to the public is better than other brands. You are conflating their items for sale with the Birkin. Anyone can purchase online and also make an appointment at a boutique. The exclusivity only happens with their purses.
Ironically, you can buy Hermes Fragrances from any fragrance retailer and even many discounters. It’s interesting how different their models are for hand bags and clothing versus their perfumes which are like any of the other designers
Ferrari takes it to a pretty ridiculous level. You literally have to buy a couple of “starter” Ferraris just to get on Maranello’s radar, and they judge your public appearances and profession from what I heard to be granted an invitation to purchase a limited release.
Reminds me, my Chinese friend (owns 5 properties and 2022 Mercedes) walks into Rolex the other day, tries on a Daytona $40,000 AUD, says she wants it and they say "sorry you don't have enough Rolex points for this watch" she walked out empty-handed.
Having 5 properties for example in the UK is quite common now, especially for the middle class. Having a Mercedes’, even something high powered is a dime a dozen. Every other 18 year-old drives a brand new A/ C class (or bmw/audi) in west London.
@@dlc85007 sadly we are not on the level…with Rolex and many other brands it’s really not about how much money you have but rather how much you spend (regularly) and kiss ass. And the Daytona is an invitation only model. I’ve heard that you need to have spend upwards of something crazy like £200k for a steel daytona.
@@dlc85007 There's a big difference between owning 5 small or ordinary houses, 5 large detached houses or 5 apartment blocks (which can have anything from 10-20+ units each). Just saying someone owns a property gives very little info.
@@tonyatthebeach I was trying to paint the picture of how she's rich but I guess the 6 properties she has now doesn't cut it for some people as I thought it obviously would. Anyway she's rich, tried to buy a Rolex Daytona, and got shut down because not enough Rolex points
I appreciate (from what I’ve seen at least) Hermès maintaining the high quality of their bags. I went window shopping on the Burberry website and they had $3000 coats with polyester which just seams disappointing. Don’t get me wrong I’d understand if it was a rain jacket or something similar but a wool pea coat?
Tell me you know nothing about materials without telling me you know nothing about materials 😆 polyester is not about being cheap, that's not the only reason why they use it. It's also much more sustainable since you recycle it infinite times unlike cotton which is just burned or very hardly and rarely recycled into something else than clothes at the end. It has also different properties, like for example it doesn't absorb sweat as natural fibers or it's easier to create various shapes. Just because something has polyester , doesn't mean it's a bad product at all. Man made fibers are the best thing we have for sustainability. No natural fiber can be infinite times (theoretically) recycled. So depending on the vision behind the product, the polyester might fit better than other materials. It doesn't have to be only about cheaping out on something...
a wool pea coat can't be made from polyester ur probably mixing it with a polyamide/wool mix which is usally mostly wool 80/20. The polyamide doesn't make it worse or better it's just a fabric mix to make the garment either look a certain way or probably in this case more durable. High fashion usually uses advanced textile technology which to a not familiar person who reads poly/nylon and thinks cheap or bad quality but in reality in high fashion its not the case because it's a means to enhance the material.
@@Lucifer0022 Yeah, you know absolutely nothing about materials...💀Please do not again try to educate people before educating yourself properly... Polyester can't be recycled infinite times. It is potentially toxic to the environment by shedding microplastics and to you by leaching estrogenic and similar chemicals that are often used in the production of specialty polyester, to be more durable, water-wicking, etc. Polyester in itself is sweat inducing and makes you smell horrible, everybody can attest to that. To make polyester without these drawback you must use specialty polyester (which is unneeded if you use merino-blend tees), so your tech-fabric gym shirt is likely harmful for you. It is incredible cheap to produce, thanks to China building and industry around it, so 99% of use cases are to cut costs or boost subpar materials durability, handfeel, etc. Such as the case for short staple length cotton and polyester blends. Better choices for lining fabrics instead of polyester are naturally-sourced cellulose based fibers such as cupro (bemberg), viscose/rayon and lyocell. Man-made fibers are not the best thing for sustainability, far from it, the incredible cost of R&D and such would make breakthrough fabrics initially expensive plus the additional patenting of technologies preventing wide scale adoption and use, the case of lyocell. Natural fibers by contrast are already undergoing such changes already as they are agricultural products. Man-made fibers are prone to marketing, such as Gore-Tex, which is still uses potentially toxic ePTFE, a teflon fabric, in most of its jackets even after the promise of stoping it, or the lie that it is breathable AND water-resistant, instead of breathable OR water-resistant as it should be by the simple logic of osmosis, while the natural solution is ventile or a bit of wax on canvas! So just STFU! 💩
Fun fact, If you send in your Hermes bag to be repaired, The same person who made the bag, will repair it. The artisan who makes the bag, has their stamp somewhere inside the bag. It is in a different spot depending on which style bag you have.
This is not true. Though it can go back to the same person for repair it is very unlikely that the same person who made the bag will be the one repairing it.
@@wyw201 The reason people buy these bags are because they’re made by hand. If a machine made Birkins or Kelly’s you’d be able to tell. The bags go to a Hermès repair shop in France, sometimes, though rare, they end up in the hands of the person who made the bag.
@@wyw201 stitching for one. The hand can do stiching patterns that machine simply cannot. Along with a lot of other things that require intricate details.
Very well researched. One small detail - Hermès accepts returns for store credit but doesn’t refund. You can also deny any offer. You will get more offers if you actually like the items the brand offers. Hope the channel grows, you clearly spend a lot of time on these!
@@ElizaArika that’s not true. Hermes sell many bags online. They don’t sell Kelly, Birkin, or Constance online but many their bags they do sell online. I bought and return a Herbag for full refund
theres still way to much money going to the top of that chain. The rest of these companies churning out mass-produced "luxury" clothes are a joke. It disgusts me how many people who are barely making enough money to live are convinced by this scam.
This is hilariously underrated channel. Love it, don't stop. I think it's fascinating that the only brands similar to Hermes in terms of their appreciating value and ruthless markups are haute horologie - Patek Phillippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin. There's also Rolex which is a different can of words but also is the hypebeast par excellence, its "waitlist" policies are very similar to Hermes.
if you're spending that kinda of money you kinda want it to be hand-made by a single master craftsperson. i mean nowaday what kinda of stuff do you get to say that about? its huuge brag rights for rich people and they know it!
Wow a handmade bag. Wowie! That’s a giant step for humanity. It’s a fraud and people are dumb, narcissistic, insecure and rich lowlifes enough to support it
Hey man, I’m a big fan of your videos, but I think you should do a little more diligence on this particular topic for a cleaner video - I’m by no means a fashion expert but a couple of things from the first few min: -coach and Tory Burch are “lower end” fashion that never competed with high fashion, so the segment is a little different -Givenchy pronunciation is quite off -you can also touch on gucci/balanciaga/etc lowering price points for branding w/youth (more sales of lower priced items like caps, slippers, accessories, vs handbags) -you can touch on the concept of Veblen goods + Hermes capturing consumer surplus (utility of having a birkin vs. price paid for that bag) by having them effectively pay for it by buying other less desirable things Will add more notes as I watch, keep up the good work - one of my favorite new channels!!
It's all about exclusivity. The harder it is to produce or obtain something, the more valuable it is. I used to be one of these doofs who couldn't comprehend why someone would spend $3000 dls on a Burberry trench or $1800 on a Gucci clutch but as I've gotten older and started purchasing luxury items and realizing how well they retain their value and the air of sophistication they produce I get it now. There's nothing wrong with wanting/buying nice things. Just be careful not to let it put you in debt to do so.
Randomly came across your Casper video, never really thought about watching videos about business but your videos are very well made and really interesting! I hope this channel takes off, but either way, I'm subbed and excited to watch all your videos :) awesome job!
I'm a socialist at heart so probably not your target demographic but I want to better understand modern capitalism and business. I think it's a real blindspot for many people, and I'm always open to new information - my political views are always evolving and whether I'm a socialist or capitalist, we live in a capitalist world and I want to understand it. Your videos are a great introduction for someone with no real business knowledge, I really appreciate them!
Thank you for the kind words and support! Love your perspective - I intentionally don't target any audience and keep any politics out of my own content. Economics is how most war is waged these days (i.e international response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine). Corporate America is ruthless, violent, and companies are always coming up with strategies to stay ahead. This channel's audience seems to be a mix between day traders looking to understand a company enough to "invest" in it, company fans/enthusiasts/haters, or just the curious. I genuinely hope to foster that diversity organically and look forward to your future comments.
No refund policy is illegal in many countries, Like in my country Kuwait 🇰🇼 “ Oil Gulf Country “ , Hermes can’t say shit about the no-refund policy or the entire store would be closed for a single complaint.. and I’ve heard many countries have the same policies by law .
In the the times when money supply grows every year, but time supply stays the same - time is what Hermes chooses to charge for it’s handbags. That’s what makes their products an ultimate flex - not everyone can spend so much time.
Man, your videos are some of the most interesting, thoroughly researched and eye opening videos on RU-vid. You’re doing amazing and your channel is going to continue to grow without question
@@vanitymarks8798 honestly, knowing that Modern MBA is just some dude with with a business degree and male pattern baldness butchering up luxury brand names is kind of funny and made his business analysis more credible in a way. It's like, I want my CPA to be an expert in accounting, not fine wines, you know?
I watched your Casper video and thought you were a well-established channel with millions of subs. I really enjoy your videos. Wish there were more of them. I subbed, I look forward to your future uploads.
I’ve never really be able to wrap my head around the high-end luxury products…particularly for those that aren’t super wealthy. The only reason to spend that kind of money for those protects is to show them off….that’s probably why I don’t get it. Who cares what people think of your shoes or purse? You can get amazing quality products for a fraction of the price; the only difference is a logo on the side. It all sounds foolish if you don’t have so much money, that you light it on fire just to get rid of it.
Some of it is cultural too or maybe a symptom of the current or yesteryear generation but people have loved to represent a lifestyle, brand or product for a long, long time because as humans that how we identify our tribe (people with common ideals, passions and so on) I find it odd since it's not like a lot of these things are exactly good looking truly fashionable pieces either, most are wildly impractical unless you simply just walk around and set some things down and even from a functional perspective most are pretty much useless. All I know is I see far more people wearing all these gawdy awful, expensive stuff with no fashion sense or style because that's something you can't buy...or a lot of people wearing it hoping to come across as affluent but aren't.
That's what these companies massive advertising budget is for. Billions of dollars are spent targeting peoples psychology and inadequacies to trick them into believing that purchasing an overpriced item will solve all their problems.
decent video. however, i think you wording could be clearer. it is actually possible to purchase hermes products and bags online. in fact, they were one of the first high fashion houses to operate an online store. what cannot be purchased online is their hermes birkin, kelly and constance bags.
Fantastic combination of sense for sustainable consumer business concepts and numbers. Aside from growing this channel (which will undoubtedly happen), I would also recommend you start your own consumer business.
From all High Fashion brands, the ones that I like the most are Coach, Loewe and Hermes, stores like Gucci, Prada, LV, etc, just look tacky and of very bad taste to me, for good and for worse I cannot afford something from the brands I like (other than my nice Coach backpack), but going to the stores is always a pleasure.
“At Gucci there’s something for everyone” -nope, not really. Never appealing for ones with a more sober taste. And even their “classic” items have been absorbed by the insta-influencer crowd, which excludes other shoppers. A successful but dangerous strategy, because the brand is almost equated now with new money and tacky fashion.
disagree. from the little i know, they seem to be innovating more than any other company by actually listening to what the people want. it may be tacky to you, but i call it pushing the boundaries and being creative. the new must replace the old eventually
@@alandeutsch9987 how? slapping your logo on cheaply made crap won't stand the test of time. If anything it'll be a race to the bottom and whatever they stood up will no longer be relevant. People don't know what they want, Gucci is ugly, tacky and will not age gracefully or well beyond this era and will become some bargin bin brand or if I'm being slightly positive something like a Lacoste (started off high quality and is now just cheaper made items trying to milk their heritage, brand, logo and name)
All that mess is tacky, if you really want to spend thousands of dollars on fashion then shop at boutiques. You’re far less likely to see like 30 people in the same thing before you leave your driveway and you’ll still get quality.
This may be unique in the world of fashion or even commerce but is common in the gaming world - gacha systems and grinding. From the perspective of human psychology, they are tapping into a slightly different emotional mechanism/reward system.
Really interesting video! Luxury goods are such an alien world to me, but I guess I understand why some people assume it's worth it in a "quality over quantity" sense. I'd be more forgiving if I didn't find most of it so boring or even ugly. Gucci green might legitimately be my least favorite color on the planet, and I think it looks even worse paired with that garish red.
Sorry but these minor mistakes let me know that you don't know high fashion. How in the world do you called Red Bottoms "Iconic Louis Vuitton shoes". I had to rewind the video to make sure I heard that right. Tighten up!
A fool and their money… I love these breads…because they allow me to spot shallow fools with self-esteem issues from a distance and avoid interacting with them.
Luxury brands (like Hermes) are different from fashion brands (like Gucci, YSL). Coach is not, and has never been a luxury brand, not even a high fashion brand. And TONY Burch doesn't exist. 🤣 For people who don't understand the difference between high fashion and luxury, it's not only about the price point ($12,000 vs $2000 for a bag for example), the quality and product categories, but also the whole after-sales service.
@@hayaglamazonluxe I disagree. Gucci's quality, especially in recent years, has been disappointing. I wanted to buy a monogrammed clutch with the snake buckle, and every single bag I saw, the monograms never lined up on the seams. Plus, they are made in China in factories. Hermes is hand made. If you need to repair your bag, the same artisan who made it will fix it. The materials, attention to detail, and workmanship is not comparable.
@@kirasgirl Are we not there yet with automation that we still need to rely solely on artisans? What's the roadblock from having machines making the bags to a higher standard than humans?
@@wyw201 We don't need to rely on artisans....that's literally the whole point. The luxury is precisely that a person is hand-making the bag. They are putting their heart and soul into and ensuring it is perfect and one of a kind. There is luxury in items that are not mass produced on a factory line. Not everything needs to be automated. 🤦♀️
@@kirasgirl There are people putting their heart and soul in designing, engineering, assembling and maintaining the machines too. Not every automated effort is geared towards mass production. If a task is repetitive, you can save time, improve safety and reduce errors with automation.
*looking at a few of my Hermès pieces My absolute dumbest purchases of all time. When I was in uni I bought a pair of Prada and a pair of rock stud Valentino. Those were also my dumbest purchases of all time. I was a materialistic, dumb, vain and consumeristic shallow-head a few years ago, in my early twenties. Thank God that phase is over.
I really love your taste and style always so chic. My faves would be the kkuwan leather backpack and the Swarovski pave diamond ring so gorg. Thank you for your recommendations.
@@purpurina5663 From what I understand, Hermes has ridiculously strict standards for the hides they use to make their products, especially the bags, so for each tannery and leather type, they only take the best of the best hides for themselves. Usually the other hides are either turned into other goods where exacting quality is less important, or sold to other brands/individuals for their own use. They don’t tend to just dispose of the leather themselves, even the scraps left over from cutting their own products are usually turned into something in the Petit H line. They’re overpriced for what they are, but a cool concept.
Hand-crafted items like bags, shoes, and hats are literally the only high fashion thats remotely comparable to things like watches and supercars. The rest of the mass produced crap these companies pump out to dumb people who think it will impress anybody with more than 3 brain cells is not.
@@XSpamDragonX Moncler is a fashion brand named after inspired by the name of the alpine village Monestier-de-Clermont, Montclair is a county in New Jersey
Those jackets might have had a history in outdoors wear but since probably the 70's aren't really associated with anything really outdoorsy in a true sense. They can't even claim their down is what is it considering they own the research that goes into it so it's likely biased, so from a practical standpoint I think it's overpriced for what it is (if you want a nice, puffy warm jacket there is many others that are well made and cheaper, warmer than Moncler) but if you're deadset on the "look" by all means enjoy.
@@DanielSzilagyi I think most people living in urban areas are fine with jackets quality and durability like Moncler. Its luxury that isnt owned by other mega corporations yet, and thats enough for me. Plus they look amazing
This idea of Hermes' exlusiveness is truely disgusting to me. Customers should be treated with respect and able to buy what they want and only what they want. While normal people are sending tens of thousands of hard earned cash to be worthy of even buying an Hermes bag, these highly rare and exclusive bags are given for free/easily accessible to billionares, celebrities and influencer. I guess this is the funny thing about luxury, the ones that needs it to prove something cannot affort or get it while those who can does not really need to prove anything.
10:11 it’s a leather bag inside a fabric bag, inside wrapping paper, inside a cardboard box, inside a plastic bag, which probably arrived inside another cardboard box. Also the store is a box.
It's important to properly pack these bags for transport and storage to retain the shape and quality of leather. Even after you purchase one, you should be storing it in the dust bag and box if you aren't going to use it for a while. If taken care of, your bag is almost guaranteed to appreciate in value.
Chasing brands and buying luxury products looks similar to that statues on Easter Island. Doesn’t make any sense now, but at that time it was their whole passion and opportunity to stand out. Luxury products for sad people who can kind of enjoy their life through the prism of the eyes of others.
What I heard from my friend who used to buy at Hermes is that you have to buy other random Hermes stuff 3 to 5 times the amount of the handbag you want to get the chance to buy the handbag. So the sales person would tell you that you have to buy this amount to get the bag you want, you go pick up a bunch of random other stuff Hermes sales to reach the amount, and then pay the price of the bag to get the bag. So each bag is actually much more expensive than it's price tag. With that money I'd rather find a local leather shop to custom make a bag for me.
resale online of the high end products is practically impossible. Hermès, LV and other have teams of people scouring EBay, Amazon and other sites looking for stuff on the secondary market. You will get blacklisted by the manufacturer. They also enforce quotas on purchasers for the iconic products: Hermès will not sell you multiple Birkins
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder/customer. Just because something is branded, expensive, luxury, high fashion or trendy, doesn’t mean it’s good. 😬
