Who painted the carriage scene that inspired Hermès’s logo?

Alfred de Dreux painted the carriage scene that inspired Hermès’s logo.

The Hermès emblem shows a Duc carriage with a groom standing beside it. The design was adapted from a 19th-century painting by French artist Alfred de Dreux, whose work frequently depicted horses, carriages and aristocratic equestrian life.

Hermès adopted the image as its logo during the 1950s. The choice reflects the company’s origins as a maker of harnesses and saddlery for European riders rather than a later invention created solely for luxury-fashion branding.

The emblem is sometimes described simply as the “Duc carriage” logo, which can obscure the artist’s identity. It is also distinct from the orange color associated with Hermès packaging: the carriage-and-groom image is the brand’s visual mark, while the orange boxes became famous through post-war packaging history.