This week, we’re talking about Hermès, the 187-year-old French luxury house that just reported a “very slight improvement” in China during its third quarter this year. Sales rose 9.6% globally, a healthy number by any standard. Yet investors weren’t impressed. The stock dipped, analysts called the update “underwhelming,” and headlines focused on stagnation.

It’s an interesting paradox: how can a company so resilient, so consistent, and so admired for its discipline lose the crowd’s excitement?

Lets jump into it!

Few brands embody the meaning of longevity like Hermès. Founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès, the company began as a harness and saddle workshop in Paris. Its customers were European nobility, and its early products were practical pieces of leatherwork built for horses, not handbags.

But the foundation of Hermès was always craftsmanship. Each item was made by hand, with attention to detail so precise that the workshop produced only what its artisans could complete to perfection. That discipline became the company’s defining feature.

By the early 1900s, the next generations of Hermès transformed the brand as transportation evolved. When the horse gave way to the automobile, the company adapted by crafting luggage and travel accessories. In 1922, the first Hermès handbag was created, designed by Émile-Maurice Hermès for his wife. A few years later came the silk scarves and ties, and by mid-century, Hermès had established itself as the global standard for timeless, understated luxury.

Throughout its nearly two centuries of evolution, one thing never changed: control. Hermès refused to license its brand, resisted mass production, and kept its family ownership intact. Even today, the Hermès family controls roughly two-thirds of the company, ensuring that decisions are made with generational patience rather than quarterly urgency.

That steady approach turned Hermès into a fortress. While other luxury brands expand aggressively, Hermès focuses on scarcity. It limits supply, invests in craftsmanship training, and keeps its distribution small. That’s why a single Birkin bag can cost $12,000 and why there’s still a waiting list to buy one.

In October 2025, Hermès announced its third-quarter results. Global revenue rose 9.6%, reaching roughly €3.6 billion. Sales in Asia improved modestly, with management citing a “very slight improvement” in China after months of sluggish demand.

On paper, the results were solid. In fact, they outperformed many peers. But investors had hoped for more, especially given how central China has been to luxury’s growth story over the past decade.

For years, China fueled the global luxury boom. By some estimates, Chinese consumers now account for nearly a third of all luxury spending. After pandemic disruptions, most luxury brands banked on a rapid rebound. That hasn’t fully materialized. Consumers in China remain cautious, and luxury fatigue is real. Even Hermès, with its cult following and century-old appeal, isn’t immune.

When CEO Axel Dumas described the recovery as “slight,” markets took note. Hermès shares dipped as analysts questioned whether the brand’s slow-and-steady approach could keep momentum in a cooling market.

Yet Dumas didn’t flinch. He reiterated that Hermès has no intention of chasing growth through discounts, trend cycles, or artificial scarcity. The company would stay patient, produce at its own pace, and trust the long game, even if investors wanted more fireworks.

Hermès represents a rare kind of company: one that’s so consistent it becomes difficult to surprise anyone.

Its margins are the envy of the industry. Its brand perception is pristine. Its products, from the Kelly to the Birkin, are cultural symbols of permanence. But that very consistency is also what makes Hermès seem, at times, uneventful.

When excellence becomes predictable, the world stops celebrating it.

This is the paradox of companies built to last. They master stability so well that the absence of volatility looks like stagnation. In the eyes of investors conditioned for perpetual growth, a 9.6% increase isn’t exciting it’s expected. But in the eyes of long-term builders, that’s exactly the point.

The deeper lesson here is that Hermès’ success isn’t measured in quarters, it’s measured in generations. While competitors like Gucci, Balenciaga, and Dior pivot quickly to meet trends, Hermès plays the longest possible game. It’s a model of what happens when your greatest strength resilience starts to look ordinary in a world obsessed with speed.

What can founders and operators learn from a 187-year-old luxury house that moves at a glacial pace but never loses relevance?

1. Protect your pace.
Hermès has never confused growth with progress. Its leadership doesn’t chase short-term hype or quarterly targets. The takeaway for entrepreneurs: if your business model is healthy and sustainable, don’t break it trying to impress outsiders.

2. Invest in craftsmanship, not scale.
For Hermès, quality isn’t a tagline it’s the product. Every artisan signs the bag they make, a literal mark of accountability. For modern companies, this principle translates into obsession over customer experience and detail. These are the things that compound over decades.

3. Make patience a strategy.
Hermès measures time differently. It takes years to train a single leather artisan and months to make a single bag. That patience is its competitive edge. For builders today, the ability to resist shortcuts can be the difference between lasting a season and lasting a century.

When Hermès reports “very slight improvement” in China, the market shrugs. But step back, and it’s remarkable that a 187-year-old company can post near-double-digit growth in an uncertain global economy all without changing its playbook.

That kind of consistency isn’t luck; it’s design. Hermès is built to absorb cycles, not chase them. Its restraint gives it durability. And in the long run, durability outperforms excitement.

In business, as in craftsmanship, the goal isn’t to make noise — it’s to make something that lasts.

Hermès reminds us that endurance can be its own quiet form of brilliance. The company may not dazzle the markets with explosive quarters, but it doesn’t need to. It has already built something that endures beyond fashion cycles, trends, or economic moods.

For founders and operators, the message is simple: being built to last isn’t about constant acceleration, it’s about the discipline to stay excellent, even when excellence feels routine.

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