In 1984, Jean-Louis Dumas, CEO of a struggling French fashion house, found himself consumed with thoughts of how to not only revive but surpass the glory Hermès had once known. Four years into his role, he couldn’t shake the idea that he needed to capture lightning in a bottle once again, as his father had done with the now-legendary Kelly bag.The story goes that Grace Kelly, the iconic actress and later Princess of Monaco, was photographed using a Hermès bag to discreetly hide her pregnancy from paparazzi. That single moment catapulted the Kelly bag to fame, turning it into one of the first-ever “It bags” and solidifying Hermès as a force in luxury fashion.But like all products, the Kelly bag reached its maturity stage in the product lifecycle. As sales stagnated, Dumas knew he had two

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