Career at Hermès
After spending a year in New York City as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's, Dumas joined Hermès in 1964, at the age of 26, which his family had founded in 1837. Under the supervision of his father, Robert, who was running the company at the time, he was appointed managing director in 1971, a position he would hold for seven years.
Dumas became chairman in 1978. He expanded Hermès' range of activities by developing the silk, leather and ready-to-wear divisions, while integrating new trades with traditional methods. He also established the horology subsidiary, La Montre Hermès SA, in Bienne, Switzerland and developed the brand's presence abroad, particularly in Europe, Asia and the United States. Under his leadership, Hermès diversified into enamel and porcelain, acquired the British John Lobb Bootmaker, the Compagnie des Cristalleries de Saint-Louis or the goldsmith Puiforcat.
Also artistic director of Hermès, Dumas took the gamble of appointing divisive figures to key positions, as it was the case in 1997 when he entrusted Martin Margiela with the direction of the women's ready-to-wear branch. After his departure in 2003, Dumas appointed Jean-Paul Gaultier as his successor, a controversial figure in fashion. Gaultier's creativity, playing with the brand's emblematic leathers and silks, won over the public and led to a significant increase in sales of the craft. In 1978, he also entrusted Leïla Menchari with decorating the windows of the Faubourg Saint Honoré shop and directing the silk colour committee.
Following a chance meeting between Dumas and Jane Birkin, the Birkin bag, which became one of the emblems of Hermès along with the Kelly bag and the carré de soie, was created in 1984. The actress, sitting next to Dumas on the plane, expressed the need for a practical bag for a young mother that could hold scripts and diapers. Birkin proposed the idea of a bag larger than the existing Kelly bag. In return, Dumas agreed to make the bag, promising to give it the name ″Birkin″ if she approved the design, which she did.
In 1993, Dumas led the successful initial public offering of Hermès, in which the family still holds a 66.7% stake.
