Hermès may be best known for its leather and accessories business, but it is no stranger to elevating a range of lifestyle products too.
Beyond its famous luxury handbags like the Kelly and Birkin, its continually evolving line includes makeup, blankets and pillows, tableware, games and even pet products.
So it should come as no surprise the French luxury house is extending into a new category: headphones.
The leather-encased, over-ear style just revealed by WWD are said to come complete with their own original “Hermès sound.”
The headphones have been created by a little-known Hermès division known as Hermès Ateliers Horizons. With a workshop outside Paris, Ateliers Horizons creates extravagant bespoke items for clients, such as leather car interiors, boat fit-outs and even one-off hammocks, fishing rods, boxing gloves and a disco ball.
The headphones while limited, will however be available in slightly wider quantities from selected Hermès boutiques. The sleek pair, designed for both Bluetooth and wired use, feature handstitched cowhide leather and metallic finishes inspired by the Kelly bag. A number of leather colours from chocolate to Prussian blue means there will be a variety of looks for the luxe design.
The meticulously-made headphones developed entirely in-house will come with a fittingly luxe price – US$15,000. According to the head of Ateliers Horizons, creative director Axel de Beaufort, this reflects the level of detail from the 50-strong Horizons team, saying there were ‘no shortcuts’ taken in their creation.
“The idea is not to be able to replicate that 10,000 times as a big headset supplier would do,” he told WWD. “The idea is to have the few that we will do made perfectly, and that has been a very long learning process,” he adds.
It is not the first time the French house has elevated tech items, having added decorative details to a collaborating with Bang & Olufsen and launched a hugely popular range of wrist straps for the Apple Watch.
