Ben Gilbert: observation

Transcript context

…Once again, the timing and insight here like Thierry in the original case, what the automobile does, and it's not just automobiles, it's also improvements to trains and improvements to ships, the global rich, the global elite, start traveling a lot more. We're now in the 1920s, the roaring 20s. This is what F. Scott Fitzgerald is writing about. The visible symbols of wealth. It's when you're home, it's in your car and the bags and the accessories you're using with your car. But you're also out traveling a lot more, you're rubbing shoulders with elite all around the world. The American elite are going to France. They're going to Europe, vice versa. People are starting to travel around the world. People are traveling to Asia. People are traveling to the Middle East. People are traveling to South America. Emile's going right along with all these people. Your luggage, your bags, that's what you bring with you. That's what you show. Yeah. Importantly, it's not just that you're trying to show a label, which is a little bit different than the modern version of luxury. It's that you're trying to have something really nicely crafted. When you show up somewhere, someone should just look at your luggage and go, wow, that is beautiful. Hermes is not yet a recognized brand, so merely slapping Hermes on it won't do the trick. The way to wow the people that you want to wow is through the raw craftsmanship. The product itself, yes. In 1922, Emile's wife famously complains that the large bag they've been making, the Haut a Courroies, the saddlebag, it's too large to fit through car doors, so she asks for a smaller version. This launches the handbag business in 1925.…

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