Hermes was founded in year 1837 by Thierry Hermes and is still a family owned company. The company key products today are scarves, ties, leather goods, jewellery, perfumes, home objects and fashion products. Hermes headquarters are in Paris and the company operates in over 30 countries.
At the beginning the Hermes main specialty was leather products and saddles. When Emile-Maurice Hermes inherited Hermes company he turned the company away from the saddle business and started manufacturing various leather luggage items.

Hermes bags are among the most exclusive handbags in the world. They are not only a status symbol, but also represent a unique quality of material and manufacturing. Hermes bags are made of the finest quality leather, including also such materials as crocodile, ostrich, calf and lizard. There are several bags which are world famous, for example, the Kelly bag and Birkin. Kelly bag is named after Monaco Princess Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in 1956 with the Hermes Kelly bag.

Another sought after luxury bag is the Birkin bag named after famous actress Jane Birkin. She happened to travel on one airplane with Hermes president Jean-Louis Dumas and complained that the Kelly bag she owned was not comfortable for daily use - after that she co-designed the new bag with Hermes. Price of Birkin bag starts from six thousand dollars up to whatever a true Birkin bag admirer is willing to pay. Wait time for Birkin bag is several years, although depending on availability of bag in the store one could simply go into shop and buy the desired Birkin. Birkin is very popular among celebrities and has become even more popular after featuring on the Sex and the City and Gilmore Girls. Now famous Birkin is available in smaller version designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Every year thousands of replica Birkin bags are hand made in Asia. Nowadays quality and materials are very good and although it will not replace the original designer bag fake Hermes bags are good value for money.