You may see a few more Birkins out in the world over the next few years—if you and people you know can get your hands on one, of course.
Hermès is continuing to ramp up its handbag production in France in the face of its soaring sales and high demand. And to help get those purses into the arms of its clients at a faster rate, the fashion house is opening four new factories throughout the country, WWD reported.
One of the new locales includes a new leather goods workshop in Colombelles, a town found within the Calvados region on the Northern Atlantic coast; this spot will mark the masion’s 27th leather-goods factory in France. There, Hermès will tap 260 artisans to bring its bags to life, such as the Kelly and the Constance, according to the publication. Set to open in 2028, the workshop will be built on a developed brownfield site, once home to a metalworks factory that closed its doors back in 2013.
Hermès has a factory set to debut later this year, too, in Isle d’Espagnac, which can be found in central France. As for what else is on the horizon, a factory of a similar size to the Colombelles workshop is planned for 2026 in Loupes (in the country’s southwest region), and another 260-artisan factory is slated for 2027 in Charleville-Mézières (in Northern France).
The luxury fashion house is starting off 2025 strong. Hèrmes’s Q1 sales report from last week showed that sales in the brand’s leather goods were up 10 percent year-over-year. The masion also kicked off the year with “low stock levels, especially in its leather goods," executive vice president of finance Eric du Halgouët said in the report, WWD reported. In 2025’s first three months, Hèrmes snagged a 7 percent increase in sales overall; that figure fell short of analysts’ predictions but was a more positive showing that LMVH, which saw a 3 percent dip in sales over the same period. The brands’ rivalry grew even more intense last week when Hermès passed LVMH to become the world’s most valuable luxury company.
Hermès also announced that it would be passing on Trump’s tariff costs to its U.S. consumers starting May 1. As of now, those levies are set at 10 percent. As of now, those levies are set at 10 percent, so we’ll have to wait and see if that any effect of the brand’s soaring demand.
From the article by Nicole Hoey
