A Consistent and Creative Use of Instagram Balances Accessibility and Engagement with a Reputation for Exclusivity and Craftsmanship
By Mark Wittmer
Hermès may be known for slow fashion and timeless luxury, but the brand’s social media presence reveals one of the most up-to-date, fast-paced digital strategies in the industry today – one of the key factors that has contributed to its impressive resilience in a time of luxury stagnation. Here, we take a look into the house’s vibrant and artisanally collaborative approach to social media and how it balances digital accessibility with its aura of exclusivity to become a powerful storytelling force.
Key Takeaways
- Embrace a Narrative-Driven Content Strategy: Hermès utilizes its social media platforms to tell a continuous story of craftsmanship and artistry, rather than just pushing products or promotions. Their content, which includes commissioned works from artists, detailed craftsmanship videos, and narrative voiceovers, emphasizes the brand’s heritage and expertise. This approach builds a deeper emotional connection with the audience, making the brand more appealing and memorable.
- Leverage Artistic Collaborations to Enhance Brand Identity: By collaborating with distinct artists who have strong social media presences, Hermès extends its reach and enriches its brand image. These collaborations not only showcase the brand’s commitment to quality and aesthetics but also attract a diverse audience that appreciates art and creativity.
- Focus on Seasonless and Timeless Appeal: Hermès promotes the luxury of time and enduring quality over fleeting trends. This is evident in their focus on seasonless content that celebrates their long-standing tradition and craftsmanship. By eschewing the fast-paced fashion cycle, Hermès stands out in an industry often criticized for its emphasis on rapid consumption.
Hermès saw steady growth across 2024, defying the trend of luxury slowdown and most recently reporting a third-quarter sales increase of 11.3 percent at constant currency, reaching 3.7 billion euros. This performance places the French luxury goods company ahead of its competitors, such as Kering, which experienced a 16 percent decline in sales, and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which saw revenues drop by 4.4 percent.
This success tends to be attributed – by both analysts and by the brand itself – to the longevity, craftsmanship, legacy, and desirability of an Hermès handbag. And this is certainly true; there’s a reason that these bags are seen as the most desirable, and the most desired product will be the last to be affected when customers take a break from luxury spending.
But this aspect of exclusivity and desirability of the product itself is only one side of the coin that is Hermès. Balancing out the air of elusive exclusivity is an extensive and warm digital presence that invites an endless online community into a colorful world of storytelling, collaboration, and craftsmanship.
A quick scroll through the brand’s Instagram page reveals that this is no typical fashion brand’s social media presence. Rather than typical lookbook portraits, product shots, and campaign imagery, the majority of the Hermès Instagram is occupied by color and craft: playful illustrations, virtual sculpture illustrations, bite-sized dives into a particular element of design or craftsmanship.
Most of these works are thoughtfully commissioned from distinct artists with dynamic social-media presences of their own, extending the brand’s savoir-faire into a curatorial practice. Just as important as the engaging, eclectic visuals is the sound design, with the attention to detail extending to the soothing and immersive sonic landscapes and voiceovers. And while these posts sometimes highlight a new product launch or tie into an event or holiday, most of them don’t – as if to say that Hermès doesn’t need an occasion to inventively celebrate its artistry.
When the brand does invest in a more long-form project – with an excellent recent example being its “On the Wings of Hermès” film, an imaginative craft journey brought to life through imaginative puppetry – it still keeps the seasonless social-media cycle in mind. Though this film had a half hour runtime, its vignette structure meant it could be easily parceled out into many bite-sized clips that were perfect for Instagram and TikTok.
That seasonless mindset speaks to a central tenet of the appeal of Hermès: the luxury of time. Known as the oldest luxury fashion house still in operation today, Hermès is successfully playing on a different time scale than most brands. To own a Birkin or a Kelly bag is to be a rare part of a centuries-old story of craft mastery. Though the brand stages men’s and women’s runway shows on the regular fashions schedule, these collections elegantly eschew trends and instead serve as canvases across which the story of the house continues to play out.
Similarly, though making several new Instagram posts each week does in a way play to the social-media content machine that demands to constantly be fed, this fresh content serves to enrich and expand the narrative of artistry that is Hermès. The brand recently announced via its Instagram that its theme for 2025 is “Drawn to Craft,” with artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas saying, “Drawing is everything at Hermès, and everything starts with drawing.” Centuries, years, weeks, 30-second clips – each of these time scales is made to function as part of a whole, writing and rediscovering new chapters in one ongoing story.
So what can other brands learn from the success of Hermès? Of course, most fashion brands are not a nearly 200-year-old luxury leather house. But every brand should have a story, and Hermès’ social-media strategy offers a surprisingly accessible avenue for brands at every stage in their life cycle. The focus and fast pace of a seasonless Instagram approach provides endlessly modular opportunities to highlight a single element – be it a particular bag, a step in the design or manufacturing process, or an aspect of a runway show – and convey it through a fresh visual perspective.
Balancing a reverence for craft and the discerning luxury customer, a creative spirit of sophisticated whimsy, and a rapid yet timeless approach to communication rhythm, Hermès sets the bar for engaging, creative, narrative-driven social media marketing.