Hermes Rare Swing and a Miss With Connected and Terre Speakers, and Headphones plus more Audio Plans.

 

Just yesterday we ridiculed the Loewe x Jacob headphones as risible (here), yet we turn around and immediately find another luxury audio technology release bordering on the ridiculous, and this time from out favourite luxury merchant, Hermes.  

First we have the connected speaker, in leather, for £24,000 per speaker, next the Odyssey Terre which has a detachable "mini" speaker for $27,000, then the wireless headphones on limited release for $15,000, and a £250,000 statement jukebox not worth mentioning as it isn't on general release.

The speakers, and limited release headphones, give no information about the specifications, no updates on the technology inside, and nothing speaking to what they do, just the price tag and the vaguest of information on the fact they are audio equipment.  According to the most Delphic press statement imaginable from Axel de Beaufort, Ateliers Horizons' creative director, “We need to understand the engineering of things. It doesn’t mean that we do the engineering, but we need to understand and we need to be able to push boundaries." Whatever that means.

As the headline states, in out view this is a miss for Hermes, and smacks of the same slightly sad desperation seen in the Loewe Jacob release.  The luxury market is contracting, so they are flailing desperately and trying to do something, anything, to draw clientele back to spend money.  But this isn't it.  We're not saying luxury technology isn't desirable, Bang Olufsen regularly show that with £100,000 plus speakers.  But this isn't luxury technology, because technology by its nature should move with the times.  This is obviously very low end tech which is likely already obsolete, covered in Hermes leather, with vague press releases promising commitment to more tech, identical to the Jacob Loewe set of headphones.  Which is a sad indictment of how Hermes must be doing. 

We only hope they don't do poorly enough to consider allowing themselves to be acquired by LVMH, and therefore loosing everything that makes them special.  That, not the sad outdated old hifi kit they attempting to rip clients off with, will be the true tragedy.