What is the main difference between Hermès and LV?

Hermès and Louis Vuitton (LV) are both iconic top-tier global luxury brands, yet they differ essentially in ownership structure, operational logic, craftsmanship models, product value attributes and target audience positioning. Hermès adheres to a family-owned independent development model centered on extreme craftsmanship and artificial scarcity, positioning itself as a "super luxury" brand for ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). In contrast, LV, as the core flagship brand of the LVMH conglomerate, pursues a scalable luxury strategy that balances heritage and trendiness, covering a much broader affluent consumer base. These fundamental differences run through every aspect of their brand development and market performance, supported by 2025 industry data and authoritative reports from Rebag, Snowball and the Shanghai Securities News.

The most basic divide lies in ownership and corporate operation models. Hermès has been a family-run independent enterprise since its founding in 1837, with the Hermès family holding 54.3% of the shares through the holding company H51 SAS, exercising absolute control over the brand’s strategic decisions without any external conglomerate intervention. It operates with an ultra-efficient lean team of less than 26,000 employees, achieving a per capita revenue of over 600,000 euros in 2025—1.5 times that of LVMH, and its market value even surpassed LVMH at one point in 2025. LV, founded in 1854 and merged into LVMH in 1987, is firmly controlled by the Arnault family and backed by LVMH’s diversified matrix of more than 75 luxury brands. LVMH relies on a large-scale operation system with over 210,000 employees, leveraging group advantages in supply chain, marketing and channel layout to achieve global market penetration, and its development is subject to the overall strategic deployment of the conglomerate.

Craftsmanship and production scarcity form the core competitive difference between the two brands. Hermès is the epitome of handcrafted luxury: its iconic Birkin and Kelly bags are all made by a single master artisan for 18 to 24 hours, with the brand owning more than 50 top-tier tanneries to control the entire raw material supply chain independently. It strictly limits production capacity—only 300,000 Birkin bags are produced annually—and implements a strict quota system with a purchase ratio of up to 1:2.5, even tightening the purchase limit to two pieces per account per year in 2025 to reinforce scarcity. LV, on the other hand, adopts a combined model of handcraftsmanship and modern industrial production. It retains core craftsmanship for high-end custom products, but mass-produces classic styles like Neverfull and Speedy through a centralized group supply chain, and even collaborates with top global manufacturers to improve market response speed. There is no strict quota system for LV’s core products, making its luxury more accessible.

Their product value logic and secondary market performance also show a huge gap, which is the most intuitive embodiment of their brand positioning differences. According to Rebag’s 2025 Clair Report, Hermès reclaimed the top spot in the luxury resale market with an average retention rate of 138%, with the Kelly Mini II’s resale price reaching 282% of the original price, and the second-hand value of Birkin bags surging by 92% in a decade—far exceeding the 43% increase in retail prices over the same period. Hermès’ classic products have been completely shaped into "wearable assets" with anti-inflation and appreciation attributes, and its 2025 operating profit margin reached 40.5%, showing strong resistance to economic cycles. LV’s classic products maintain good value retention in the secondary market, but their appreciation potential is far lower than Hermès, with only a few limited-edition co-branded series (such as the LV x Takashi Murakami collaboration) achieving a resale premium of over 130%. Most entry-level accessories even face depreciation risks, and their product value is more reflected in brand recognition and social currency attributes rather than investment value.

Target audience and market resilience further highlight the divergent positioning of the two brands. Hermès targets core UHNWIs, old-money elites and luxury collectors who pursue scarcity and long-term investment value. Its consumer group has strong consumption stability, making Hermès achieve a 9% year-on-year revenue growth in the third quarter of 2025, with growth in all global regions and little impact from economic fluctuations. LV’s target audience is more extensive, covering high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), new money, high-end middle class and even young consumers who are new to luxury consumption. It relies on trendy marketing, celebrity endorsements and localized strategies (such as layout in China’s duty-free stores) to attract consumers, but its performance is more susceptible to economic cycles—LVMH’s fashion and leather goods department, the core sector of LV, once saw a 5% revenue decline in 2025, reflecting the vulnerability of its consumer group to market changes.

In terms of brand philosophy and marketing strategies, the two brands also take completely different paths. Hermès adheres to long-termism and the concept of "quiet luxury", with no obvious logos on its products, and it rarely conducts high-profile marketing or celebrity endorsements. It has set up the École Hermès des Savoir-Faire to train professional artisans, and reinvests its profits in craft inheritance and sustainable development, focusing on building brand value through craftsmanship and word of mouth. LV, with its core brand philosophy of "the art of travel", combines classic heritage with modern trendiness. It uses the highly recognizable Monogram canvas as its core visual symbol, and conducts intensive digital marketing, star collaborations and limited-edition launches worldwide. It also adapts to local market demands through localized product design and channel layout, making it more popular in emerging luxury markets with its high brand exposure.

In conclusion, the core difference between Hermès and LV is the essential conflict between the super luxury asset logic and the scalable top luxury social symbol logic. Hermès has created an insurmountable moat in the luxury market with its extreme craftsmanship, absolute scarcity and asset attribute of products, becoming the ultimate choice for top wealthy groups to pursue luxury collection and investment. LV, on the other hand, has opened up a broader luxury consumer market with its group-scale operation, trend integration and accessible luxury positioning, becoming a classic symbol of mass high-end luxury consumption. The two brands do not have a simple hierarchy of superiority, but rather meet the different luxury consumption needs of different social classes in the global market.