October 22, 2026 · Moving Now

Hermès Q3 2026: Leather Grows 11 Per Cent as Ready-to-Wear Falls in China

Hermès grew 4.3 per cent at constant exchange rates in the third quarter of 2026, to 4.1 billion euros, its slowest quarter since early 2020. Leather goods rose 10.8 per cent, while ready-to-wear and accessories fell for the first time in years as fewer shoppers visited its stores in China.

Eva Winterer

In the third quarter of 2026, Hermès grew on the strength of the bags its clients wait for, while sales of products bought in larger numbers fell. Revenue rose 4.3 per cent at constant exchange rates to 4.1 billion euros in the three months to 30 September, the Paris house reported on 22 October, its slowest quarterly growth since the pandemic closed its stores in early 2020. Leather Goods and Saddlery, the division of the Birkin and the Kelly, grew 10.8 per cent. Ready-to-wear and accessories, which also include shoes, belts, hats and fashion jewellery, fell 2 per cent, the division’s first decline in years.

Éric du Halgouët, the chief financial officer, put the gap down to footfall on a call with analysts that morning. Fewer people visited the stores in China and the Middle East; sales of fashion accessories, watches and shoes were the first to suffer, while leather and jewellery made up the difference in value. Hermès shares fell about 5 per cent in early trading in Paris.

The quarter follows a first half in which Axel Dumas, the executive chairman, explained why training hours and the quality of hides set the limits of Hermès’s leather production.

A woman on a sailing boat beneath Hermès silk carrés flown as signal flags, from the house's spring-summer 2026 campaign — Hermès leather grew 10.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, while ready-to-wear and accessories fell 2 per cent. Silk carrés from the spring-summer 2026 campaign. Photo: Courtesy of Hermès

● In brief

The quarter. Hermès reported revenue of 4.1 billion euros for the third quarter, 4.3 per cent higher at constant exchange rates and 5.5 per cent higher as reported. Over nine months, revenue reached 12.3 billion euros, 6 per cent more at constant exchange rates and 3 per cent more as reported, after currency movements, mostly the weaker yen, cost about 310 million euros. Every region grew except the Middle East.

Leather. Leather Goods and Saddlery had revenue of 1.91 billion euros in the quarter. Du Halgouët told analysts that the house sells all the leather goods it makes, in every region. Capacity rose 6 per cent in 2026 with the 25th leather workshop, in Loupes in the Gironde, and three more will follow: Charleville-Mézières in 2027, Colombelles in 2028 and Les Andelys by 2030.

China. Sales in Greater China were flat over nine months, after growing slightly in the first half. Du Halgouët cited the property market, low consumer confidence, a high savings rate and a new 20 per cent tax on assets held offshore, applied retroactively over three years. He told journalists that the market was “very difficult” and that Hermès would keep investing there. The house has 31 stores in China and opened a new one in Sanlitun, Beijing, in April.

Middle East. Sales in the region fell 4 per cent over nine months. Store traffic fell by around 25 per cent, du Halgouët said, and local clients buying leather and jewellery offset part of the loss.

Growth elsewhere. The Americas grew 13 per cent over nine months, Japan 11 per cent and Europe outside France 9 per cent, with Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal among the countries growing by double digits. The new maison at 166 New Bond Street in London, opened in June, is selling more than Hermès expected. Stores in Manhasset, New York, and Geneva are due to open in the coming weeks.

France. Sales in France grew 2 per cent over nine months. During the recent unrest, the Hermès store in Marseille was attacked and will stay closed for some time, and windows were broken at the stores in Nantes and Lyon and at the Avenue George V store in Paris.

Prices. Hermès expects its price increases for 2027 to be slightly smaller than this year’s and will decide on them in the coming months.

● Why it matters

When fewer clients come into its stores, Hermès sells fewer of the things people buy in quantity and more of what is bought once and kept, such as a Kelly or a piece of fine jewellery. The decline in ready-to-wear and accessories comes from one country: outside China the division grew, and du Halgouët said that the latest collections sold so well that many stores had to reorder. Ready-to-wear has grown by about 80 per cent over the past four years.

Hermès is responding with new collections and new categories. Grace Wales Bonner presents her first menswear collection for Hermès in 2027, and Nadège Vanhée introduces couture in January, a move du Halgouët expects to lift women’s ready-to-wear as a whole. In shoes, Hermès is preparing higher-value models, such as boots in the Jumping line, and skincare follows in 2028.

Growth in leather depends on the artisans who make the bags. Every new workshop is staffed with craftspeople trained at the Écoles Hermès des savoir-faire, and Hermès adds around 6 per cent of capacity each year. In London, resellers told Reuters on 21 October that the Birkin has become easier to obtain and that its resale prices have fallen since 2022.

Du Halgouët said trends in October had stayed the same as at the end of the third quarter, including in China. The deadline for wealthy Chinese families to settle the new tax on offshore holdings was 22 October, the day Hermès reported, and the fourth quarter will show whether visitors return to the stores now that it has passed.