Hermès’ first store to open in Pune

The luxury fashion house Hermès has given a miss to Mumbai as it is going to open its first

store in India in the city of Pune. Mumbai will have a store probably by May 2011. The stores will have the same range of accessories as in Paris, London or New York. The managing director of Hermès India Bertrand Michaud says Hermès does not follow a specific pattern, nor does it focus on market trends. Pune is a city that reflects the brand’s goals – to explore, surprise and offer exclusive items.

The most iconic Hermes products are handmade. The high prices reflect not just Hermes’ reputation for quality and the prestige value of its name, but also the sheer number of man-hours that goes into each product. Despite being family-owned, and somewhat wary of branding and marketing, Hermes has been consistently profitable. Hermes is a French fashion house which operates in India in a joint venture with Khanna Retail. The brand had chosen Indian Fantasies as its theme for its collections in 2008 when a team of experts visited India and came up with India-inspired products.