Hermès, using scrap materials, unveiled a series called "petit h", which is hoped to bring more fresh experiences. At least for the time being, it looks like this rule-breaking move has gone fairly smoothly. What use can Hermès make with the bits and pieces? If you have a look at the flagship Hermès Shanghai store, you will discover that it has become somewhat different. Beginning November 12, the shop floor has a man-made forest created out of leather tiles, leaves and trees to create the artificial forest. The inside is stuffed with more than 1,000 works from Hermès’ “petit h” – the waistcoat with silk scarves for the two sleeves; the cuckoo clock that peeps its head from a Kelly bag; a drying clothes rack, wind chimes and jewelry case made of calf skin; a coat of arms made from slightly defective Hermès buttons. And more than that. Cobblestones from European churches nailed to a leather belt and clasp, designed to look like a doorstopper; reed from Provence has been turned into a sword, flute and frame. Of course there are bigger works – a leather origami rabbit sculpture and a large version of a spiral spring toy pony. In conclusion, these are not well-heeled crocodile leather handbags.

Raw materials for petit h that are excess materials from the Hermes manufacturing process (Figure | Uta Eisenreich)

“Petit h” is an experimental extension of Hermès development. In French, “petit” means “small.” If conventional Hermès products represent “big H” – a distant, possibly unattainable luxury experience, then this “small h” is responsible for selling cute and creative. A tentatively called “skeleton” handbag may be the best example that illustrates petit h: it is the leather panel cutout left after manufacturing one of Hermès’ most famous bags, Birkin. Petit h pairs what is remaining and what is gone, eye-catching and pricey. In Europe, it is sold for £1700 GBP (about 16,400 Yuan). If you count tariff and duties, the actual selling price is higher in China. Even so, many of the works are reserved-tagged. This is a small-scale exhibition, customers can select and purchase during the visit freely, but every item in the store does not stay more than a week in the shop. With luck you can still find some relatively cheap things. For example, for about 2,00 Yuan a bracelet made of Hermès silk scarf material. While in other countries, entry-level products include a $85 USD postcard – except for sending to your social network, you will probably not discover other values of this postcard. “Petit h brings a level of modern-day and youthfulness to the traditional brand,” The United States consulting firm The Parker Avery Group’s brand advisor Courtney Albert said to the China Business Weekly. For those who see the Kelly handbag and the Birkin handbag as synonymous with Hermès, Petit h represents humor, fun and unconstrained style, indeed a strong contrast to the traditional image of Hermès. Hermès is not the first to do so. In the world of fashion, Galeries Lafayettes and Karl Lagerfeld have yielded to the wacky. In the past two years, he launched a series of little monster hanging ornaments (Bag Bugs) and an “Angry Bird” bag, which still has the sales magic and is the most eye-catching of the Fendi fur brand – but with the high-profile exposure in the fickle fashion world, you do not know what their ultimate fate will be. With the global luxury consumer group, many luxury brands have found that once a product has been defined as “pop culture,” younger consumers are more likely to accept it. This has made companies actively create brand extensions. The difference between petit h and Hermès is the production method. “In the luxury goods industry, it usually means you have a creative inspiration and then go find the materials to realize it. But in Petit h this process is diametrically opposite,” Petit h Commercial Director Laurence Dejust told China Business Weekly. Or in other words, this is a peculiar “remnant utilization” project. Because every piece of Petit h work is produced from raw materials left from the production of Hermès products.

Petit h works have formed a strong contrast with the Hermès product style (Figure | Suzie Q & Léo Siboni)

Located in the suburb of Paris Pantin, Petit h workshops are like an idle warehouse. Past season Birkin bags and clothing fabrics, ink-stained scarves, pieces of porcelain, as well as bundles of string and buttons. The designers must find the inspiration, and requires an “aha” moment. Petit h is more casual, “For example, the Hermès designers think this wrinkled leather has imperfections and therefore abandoned it, but Petit h likes these wrinkles because it is so real,” Dejust said, pointing to a section of a small lion image. The concept of recycling is not uncommon in many industries. But the luxury industry is not the same. The production of excess stock in the luxury production factory will be secretly destroyed to prevent fake goods flowing into the market. The companies are also worried that “recycling” could negatively impact the high-end image. By contrast, they prefer “up-cycling” which has a better marketing nature. But they need to be cautious. Pascale Mussard, the sixth generation member of the Hermès family, founded petit h in 2010. She spent years secretly experimenting and only after, submitted a business plan to her father describing the benefits. She finally persuaded the other family members. Different from Hermès, Petit h does not have a fixed designer. As of now, over 60 independent have created more than 200 products. Mussard selects all partners. Every year, she invites a numbers of artists and designers from the Hermès plant for a few weeks to view materials collected and exchange ideas. Petit h is a year round collaboration and is also inclined to seek out independent designer collaboration. For example, Haute Couture designer Gustavo Lins, and even sculptors and ship designers. These designers have included Gilles Jonesmann, a jewelry designer with a complete sense of freedom. As the former head of the French association of gold and silver jewelry, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris has held personal exhibitions. He and Mussard have worked together to create 100 prototypes. Seeing a broken teapot, it occurred to him: “We’ll do a lamp.” He gave it wings, hung it up, it looks like it is flying. Sounds romantic and artistic. But Petit h sales are full of commercial sense.

Petit h works have formed a strong contrast with the Hermès product style (Figure | Suzie Q & Léo Siboni)

Sixth-generation member of the Hermès family, Pascale Mussard. She is the initiator of Petit h.

Petit h does not have an extensive sales channel, with its only permanent exhibition space located on the left bank of Paris. Each year, Hermès also chooses two to three exhibition cities.   The United States Hermès website sells a mystery gift box (Petit h Surprise) in which the contents are unknown to the customer until it arrives at their door. Starting a year ago, each month Hermès provides three different size boxes at varying price points. At the moment, the most expensive version, GM, is sold out. The PM series is the lowest price point at $200 USD, which a number of fashion lovers cannot wait to purchase – leather luggage tags, animal shaped toys like elephants and hyenas. “Petit h always wants to bring excitement, so we came up with this approach,” Dejust told the China Business Weekly. The United States is a powerful and mature market and people are more apt to accept it. “Offering a surprise box is a novel way of not only creating excitement, but also raise awareness of Petit h and expectations. Because of the limited distribution, Petit h is able to educate the consumer about the brand at every point of purchase,” says Albert with a similar view. To put it bluntly , Petit h is helping Hermès retain more customers.

In the past two or three years, luxury consumer behavior has changed. Their understanding of “luxury” is no longer based on high prices or just brand name. Some customers are not only looking for unique luxury experiences, but also those that stress the proposition of the brand and consistent with the customer’s philosophy of life. According to Hermès, Petit h precisely conveys this value. As a result of the presence of Petit p, it is a high-profile way to declare that “we will not discard anything” and have socially responsible practices and well as rigid quality control. In conclusion, the introduction of Petit h is not “recycling.” From a commercial standpoint, Petit h is essentially a low-cost way to obtain higher returns. Hermès’ luxury brand endorsements make these premium designs possible, especially once consumers are educated on the creation story of Petit h. It will be up to consumers if they like the eclectic nature and unrestrained style of Petit h – they may be suitable for select few.

Petit h works have formed a strong contrast with the Hermès product style (Figure | Suzie Q & Léo Siboni)  

Petit h works have formed a strong contrast with the Hermès product style. (Figure | Suzie Q & Léo Siboni)

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