Fondation d'entreprise Hermès

What Fondation d'entreprise Hermès does

The Fondation d'entreprise Hermès is a regulated French corporate foundation (fondation d'entreprise) established in 2008 by Hermès Sellier and Hermès International under law n°87-571 of 23 July 1987 on the development of patronage. It is funded entirely by its corporate founders and operates four core missions: transmitting savoir-faire (craft skills), creating works of art, protecting the environment, and encouraging gestures of solidarity. It does not generate commercial revenue and does not sell products or services; exhibitions are free to the public and programme applications are free of charge.

The foundation runs an in-house programme portfolio rather than distributing external grants. Documented programmes include the Académie des savoir-faire (a nine-month annual cycle rotating by material — paper 2025, metal in Japan 2026, leather 2027), Manufacto (design students paired with artisan workshops), New Settings (contemporary art commissions in Hermès store windows), Résidences d'artistes (artists placed in Hermès manufacturing workshops), Artistes dans la Cité (youth arts education including Transmission Impossible at the Festival d'Avignon), Manuterra (school-based biodiversity education across 13 French academies with over 1,000 pupils), the Latitudes photography programme (launched 2024 as the successor to Immersion, supporting photographers from underrepresented regions), and the Prix Henri Cartier-Bresson (exclusively patroned by the foundation since 2013). It has documented 174 projects since inception.

The foundation operates four owned exhibition venues: Le Forum in Tokyo (Ginza Maison Hermès), Atelier Hermès in Seoul (Hermès Maison Dosan, directed by curator Soyeon Ahn), La Verrière in Brussels (directed by curator Joël Riff since 2023), and La Grande Place at the Musée Saint-Louis in Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche. It also partners internationally with cultural institutions including Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (Paris), International Center of Photography (New York), Aperture Foundation, SFMOMA, and Frac Grand Large, and publishes co-editions with Actes Sud, Iwanami Shoten, and Atelier EXB. Its geographic footprint spans France, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Brazil, and Ivory Coast.

Name

Fondation d'entreprise Hermès

Legal name

FONDATION D'ENTREPRISE HERMÈS

Website

https://fondationdentreprisehermes.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Corporate foundation established by Hermès in 2008 that funds arts, craft transmission, environmental education, and solidarity programmes through exhibitions, residencies, and grants across France, Japan, South Korea, and Belgium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Foundation / Arts Patronage

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Museums (71211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Foundation/NGO & Philanthropic Scholarships (EDAIAOAH)

Keywords

• Corporate philanthropy
• Arts patronage
• Craft preservation
• Artist residencies
• Cultural philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate philanthropy / Mécénat: The foundation is funded entirely by its corporate founders Hermès Sellier and Hermès International as part of their corporate philanthropy programme. It does not generate commercial revenue but distributes funds through grants, bursaries, exhibitions, residencies, and educational programmes in the arts, crafts, and environment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Fondation d'entreprise Hermès is a French corporate foundation created in 2008 by Hermès Sellier and Hermès International. It channels philanthropic funding into four mission areas — transmitting savoir-faire, creating works of art, protecting the environment, and encouraging solidarity — through in-house grant, residency, exhibition, training, and educational programmes delivered at its own venues in Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Brussels, and Saint-Louis. All activities are offered free of charge to beneficiaries and exhibition visitors.

Product overview

The Fondation d'entreprise Hermès operates as a corporate foundation with four core missions—transmitting savoir-faire (craft skills), creating artworks, protecting the environment, and encouraging solidarity—implemented through in-house grant and exhibition programs. The portfolio includes: Expositions (traveling exhibitions across four venues: La Grande Place in Saint-Louis, Le Forum in Tokyo, Atelier Hermès in Seoul, and La Verrière in Brussels); Latitudes (photography support); Résidences d'artistes (artist residencies in Hermès manufactures); New Settings (store window commissions); Manufacto (student-artisan training); Académie des savoir-faire (nine-month material exploration programs with publications); Artistes dans la Cité (youth arts education including Transmission Impossible at Avignon); Manuterra (school biodiversity education); Biodiversité & Écosystèmes (environmental protection); and H³ Heart, head, hand (solidarity initiatives). An online press portal provides media access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Expositions Foundation-wide exhibition programme presenting contemporary art across its venues in La Grande Place (Saint-Louis), Le Forum (Tokyo), Atelier Hermès (Seoul), and La Verrière (Brussels); free and open to the general public.
• Latitudes International photography support programme (successor to Immersion, 2014–2024) awarding photographers from underrepresented geographic regions with funding, residencies, and culminating exhibitions and publications.
• Résidences d'artistes Artist residency programme placing visual artists (plasticiens) inside Hermès manufacturing workshops to produce new works drawing on artisan craftsmanship; in 2026, Soyeon Ahn (curator of Atelier Hermès Seoul) was invited to oversee the programme at the cristallerie Saint-Louis, mentoring Korean painter Woojung Hoh.
• New Settings

Quantifiable outcome

• Manuterra programme expanded to 13 partner boards of education with over 1,000 pupils
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Frac Grand Large (Fonds régional d'art contemporain Hauts-de-France)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-commissariat partnership for the 'Faire Corps' exhibition at Le Forum Tokyo in 2025. The Frac Grand Large in Dunkirk, a public cultural institution with over 2,000 works, provided pieces from its collection for the exhibition exploring themes of the social body.
• Domaine de BoisbuchetmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025The Domaine de Boisbuchet in Charente hosts the 'grand atelier' (major workshop) component of the Académie des savoir-faire programmes, where selected professionals gather for collaborative hands-on sessions.
• Constance GuissetmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Designer Constance Guisset served as pedagogical director for the Académie des savoir-faire 2025 programme focused on paper. Her work is marked by research into balance between ergonomics, delicacy, and imagination.
• David CampanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Director of ICP served as godfather (parrain) for the second edition of Latitudes programme, supporting laureate Nuits Balnéaires.
• Iwanami ShotenmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Japanese publisher co-editing the book 'Savoir & Faire – Kinzoku, le métal' for the Académie des savoir-faire au Japon programme, alongside French content from Actes Sud.
• Atelier EXBminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Publisher co-editing the book 'Eboro' by Nuits Balnéaires with the foundation, published in January 2026 in French and English.
• International Center of Photography (ICP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Since 2021, ICP in New York has been the American partner for the Latitudes programme (successor to Immersion). Latitudes supports photographers from underrepresented geographic areas, with the second laureate Nuits Balnéaires presenting work at ICP in 2026.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018From 2018, SFMOMA partnered with the foundation for the Immersion programme, alongside the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, supporting cross-residency photography commissions between France and the United States.
• Actes SudmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018French publisher that co-edits publications with the foundation, particularly for the Académie des savoir-faire programmes (Savoir & Faire series).
• Aperture FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Between 2014-2018, the foundation partnered with Aperture Foundation for the Immersion photography programme. First three laureates (Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Taysir Batniji) exhibited at Aperture Gallery in New York. Also hosted exhibitions of Prix HCB laureates at Aperture Gallery.
• Fondation Henri Cartier-BressoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013The foundation is the exclusive patron (mécène exclusif) of the Prix Henri Cartier-Bresson since 2013. This biennial prize is awarded to a photographer with documentary sensitivity, who receives funding to complete a project culminating in an exhibition and publication at the foundation's premises in Paris.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Fondation d'entreprise Chaumet: Corporate foundation of the LVMH-owned jeweller Chaumet, supporting heritage craft transmission and cultural programmes. Smaller in scope but a peer in the maison-affiliated craft and heritage philanthropy niche.
• Fondation Carmignac: Corporate philanthropic foundation of Carmignac (asset manager) operating a contemporary art venue on the Île de Porquerolles and funding photography, journalism and ocean conservation. Peer in the corporate-foundation-with-own-exhibition-venue model.
• Kering Foundation: Corporate foundation of Kering (Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga parent) addressing gender-based violence, cultural access, and environmental sustainability. Peer as another luxury conglomerate foundation with comparable international programme footprint and corporate parent.
• Fondation Louis Vuitton: Corporate foundation of LVMH operating the Frank Gehry-designed art museum in Paris and a broad cultural philanthropy programme. Closest direct peer — both are European luxury maisons' foundations supporting contemporary art, craft transmission, and international cultural programming.
• Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain: Corporate foundation of the Cartier maison (Richemont group) dedicated to contemporary art exhibitions, artist commissions, and international touring shows. Direct peer in the luxury-sector corporate art foundation space with a comparable curatorial-led model.
• Fonds de dotation agnès b. Philanthropic vehicle of the agnès b. fashion brand supporting contemporary art, photography and social causes. Peer as another French fashion/craft corporate philanthropy with museum exhibitions and grant programmes.

Broad incumbents

• Fondation de France: France's largest grantmaking network, distributing funds across cultural heritage, environment, solidarity and research. Broader incumbent setting the institutional context the Hermès foundation operates within.
• Fondation Maeght: Pioneering French private art foundation operating a major museum and sculpture garden in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Historic incumbent in the European private foundation museum category with comparable exhibition-led model.
• Fondation Beyeler: Major privately-endowed Swiss art museum foundation with international programming and a permanent collection. Broader incumbent in the private-foundation art museum category with overlapping curatorial ambitions and craft/heritage focus.

Emerging players

• Domaine de Boisbuchet / Vitra Design Museum: International design and craft workshop campus (Vitra-affiliated) hosting the Académie des savoir-faire's 'grand atelier'. Direct operational partner of the foundation and adjacent emerging player in the European craft-skills transmission space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCg7ZqFv_41mlPLrQ1xAysTw
• Facebookfacebook.com/FondationdentrepriseHermes
• Instagraminstagram.com/fondationhermes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fondation-entreprise-hermes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Fondation d'entreprise Hermès