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Key Highlights

• The HERMÈS Collier de Chien design has been part of the maison’s heritage since 1927.
• The piece draws directly on HERMÈS‘s foundational expertise in leather harness and saddle craftsmanship.
• HERMÈS was founded in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès as a workshop dedicated to the finest quality equestrian equipment.
• HERMÈS remains a family-owned company, with craftspeople producing pieces — often by hand — across a broad range of categories including jewellery, accessories, and leather goods.
• The Collier de Chien is celebrated in the official campaign film available on the HERMÈS YouTube channel.

A Maison Built on the Art of the Harness

Few luxury houses can trace a single design motif across nearly a century with as much coherence as HERMÈS. When Thierry Hermès opened his Paris workshop in 1837, his singular focus was on producing the finest harnesses and saddles for the European nobility — objects that demanded both structural precision and a refined sense of beauty. That founding discipline, in which function and form are inseparable, has never left the maison. It continues to animate every category HERMÈS has expanded into since, from its iconic silk scarves to its watches, jewellery, and beyond.

Today, HERMÈS remains a family-owned company of rare continuity in an era dominated by conglomerates. Its craftspeople — working often by hand and, as the house itself puts it, always with love — produce an extraordinary breadth of objects: bags and belts, diaries and dishes, perfumes and purses, ties and travelling furniture, gloves, hats, watches, and jewellery. This scope is not the result of brand extension strategy alone; it is the natural evolution of an atelier culture in which mastery of material is the house’s defining constant.

For collectors and connoisseurs across the GCC, HERMÈS occupies a singular position in the luxury hierarchy. Its products are sought not merely as status signifiers but as enduring objects of craft — pieces that age with distinction and carry a narrative rooted in one of the world’s great cities. The maison’s boutiques in Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha serve a clientele that understands this distinction intuitively, gravitating toward accessories that carry genuine historical weight alongside contemporary relevance.

The Collier de Chien: From Equestrian Origins to Enduring Icon

The Collier de Chien — French for ‘dog collar’ — has been a signature element of the HERMÈS design vocabulary since 1927. Its origins are entirely consistent with the house’s founding purpose: the vocabulary of straps, studs, and buckles drawn from equestrian harness-making translated into a wearable accessory of striking character. What began as a reference to working leather goods has become one of the most recognisable motifs in the broader landscape of Parisian luxury jewellery and accessories.

Craft as Heritage

The Collier de Chien’s longevity is not accidental. HERMÈS has maintained its commitment to artisanal production even as the accessory has evolved across generations and categories. The original spirit — a bold, structured design with hardware that commands attention — remains intact, connecting every iteration back to the leather workshop of nineteenth-century Paris. It is the kind of through-line that separates a genuine heritage piece from a merely fashionable one, and it is precisely this quality that resonates with collectors who study the history of a maison before acquiring its objects.

In the wider context of Parisian luxury, where houses such as CHANEL and VAN CLEEF & ARPELS have similarly cultivated signature motifs across decades, the Collier de Chien stands as one of the more distinctive examples of a design that has never needed reinvention. Its identity is secure because its origins are authentic — rooted not in marketing, but in the practical beauty of the horse harness.

A Playful Campaign with a Serious Pedigree

The short film released by HERMÈS in July 2026 approaches the Collier de Chien with characteristic wit and lightness. The campaign’s visual language — anchored by references to yoga, breath, and the unhurried rituals of daily life — reframes a nearly century-old design within the rhythms of contemporary living. It is a reminder that HERMÈS, for all its historical gravitas, has always possessed a capacity for playfulness; the maison has never confused seriousness of craft with solemnity of tone.

This kind of campaign speaks to a particular mode of luxury communication that has become more prevalent among the great French houses: rather than leading with product specification or aspirational grandeur, the emphasis falls on mood, character, and a sense of belonging to a world defined by quality and ease. For the GCC audience — sophisticated, internationally mobile, and deeply familiar with the language of high luxury — this approach reads as confidence rather than understatement. HERMÈS does not need to explain what the Collier de Chien is; nearly a hundred years of presence in the cultural imagination does that work instead.

Why It Matters

The HERMÈS Collier de Chien, celebrating nearly a century of uninterrupted presence since 1927, represents precisely the kind of design legacy that resonates most deeply with discerning collectors across the Gulf — objects where heritage, craft, and wit converge without compromise. For luxury enthusiasts in Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha who seek accessories with genuine historical depth, the Collier de Chien stands as one of the Parisian maison’s most compelling arguments for the enduring value of artisanal continuity.

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