Story & heritage

Rouge Hermès marked the house's entry into beauty — its sixteenth métier — when it launched in 2020 with a lipstick collection. It was a deliberate, long-considered debut: a single, refillable lipstick rather than a sprawling range, with the colours drawn from the house's fashion and silk-scarf archives in Lyon.

The cases were designed by Pierre Hardy, the house's creative director for shoes and jewellery, who treated them as objects in their own right — lacquered, weighted, made to be kept and reloaded. The launch shade range numbered 24, a nod to the house's historic address at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Materials & craft

Each lipstick is built around a refillable metal case — polished and brushed, lacquered in colour-blocked finishes — into which a bullet refill twists and locks. Hardy designed the case to use richer materials precisely because it would be reloaded rather than discarded, an object meant to last while the colour is replaced.

The bullets are engraved HERMÈS and offered in matte and satin finishes; the line has since expanded with balms, a silky high-shine formula and complementary beauty categories, all produced under the house's own direction.

How to choose & style

The case is sold once and reloaded with colour refills, so the choice is really two: the finish (satin for softer shine, matte for a flatter, more graphic lip) and the shade. The reds run from classic blue-reds to warmer oranges and quiet rose and beige tones, echoing the house's colour codes. It is positioned as the most accessible way to own a piece of Hermès — bought as much for the object as the colour.