The house
Hermes was founded in 1837 in Paris (France) as a saddlery and harness workshop by Thierry Hermes. The house entered perfumery in 1951 with Eau d'Hermes. The perfumery output accelerated considerably from the 1990s, when Jean-Claude Ellena joined as in-house perfumer and developed a distinctive minimalist approach to composition: stripping accords to essential transparent structures, relying on impression rather than explicit note density.
Jean-Claude Ellena held the in-house role from 2004 to 2016, during which he signed a substantial portion of the Hermes catalogue including the Hermessence collection of boutique-exclusive compositions. Christine Nagel succeeded him in 2016. Before Ellena, Olivia Giacobetti contributed compositions including Hiris (1999) and Poivre Samarcande.
On Osmetheca, Hermes is represented by two fragrances: Hiris (1999), signed by Olivia Giacobetti, an iris-forward composition with a mineral iris root and earth core; and Osmanthe Yunnan (2005), from the Hermessences series signed by Jean-Claude Ellena, a transparent osmanthus tea composition.
Perfumes on Osmetheca
The following Hermes fragrances are documented with full profiles on Osmetheca. Each entry includes launch year, perfumer attribution and olfactive family.
| Year | Perfume | Perfumer | Olfactive family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Hiris | Olivia Giacobetti | Iris mineral powdery earth |
| 2005 | Osmanthe Yunnan | Jean-Claude Ellena | Tea osmanthus transparent floral |