The Hermès Atelier Horizons headphones feature the same high-grade handiwork that elevates the coveted Kelly bag.
Talk about Hermés and the first thing that comes to people’s minds is its highly coveted Birkin and Kelly bags. But today, the French fashion powerhouse is turning up the volume on luxury with a surprising addition to its collections: a pair of ultra-luxurious headphones.
Hermès is not changing tunes with the launch of this device, it is only proving its ability to elevate the ordinary into the exquisite like no other fashion label can. Like the brand’s iconic bags, its headphones are designed both as a fashion statement and a status symbol.
From the stitching to the saddle-grade leather, the headphones have the meticulous craftsmanship that goes into every detail of any Hermès product. The house’s elite atelier division, Ateliers Horizons, spent over two years crafting the device that now echoes the elegance of the Kelly bag.
The Hermès Atelier Horizons headphones feature the same high-grade handiwork that elevates the coveted bag. Hand-stitched saddle-grade leather wraps the headband and ear cups. This is paired with polished metal components used for the Kelly’s signature clasps and buckles.
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The headphones use minimal branding as a nod to the brand’s ethos emphasizing quality craftsmanship over marketing. It only comes in the small outline of the letter H at the lower left side of the headband.
Simple, elegant, and undeniably luxurious, Hermès Ateliers Horizons’ pair of headphones is bound to be the next “it” accessory for posh fashionistas. It comes in five colorways: natural leather, black, chocolate, rough H, and Prussian blue.
On the technical side, Ateliers Horizons creative director Axel de Beaufort and his team of 50 artisans designed the device like they did for Hermès disco balls, hammocks, and surfboards—not for utility but the brand’s prestige. This means that the headphones are not built for audiophiles seeking breakthrough technology, but for diehard Hermès fans who want a wearable trophy.
It pairs with other devices in two ways—via Bluetooth and 3.5mm stereo jack—and comes with physical buttons instead of flaky touch pads for a more intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly experience.
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Like anything Hermès, the headphones also redefine the luxury of listening through their customized sound quality. De Beaufort told WWD that it is engineered with an original “Hermès sound,” which he only described as “especially complex.” He elaborated, “People don’t really need to know what’s happening behind it is as authentic as stitching a Birkin in the workshop. There are people, there are hands, there is time. There are no shortcuts,” de Beaufort said.
The US$15,000 (P834,000) device is rolling out in limited numbers only at select Hermès stores. “The idea is not to be able to replicate that 10,000 times as a big headset supplier would do. The idea is to have the few that we will do made perfectly,” he continued, “And that has been a very long process.”
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This isn’t the first time that the fashion powerhouse ventured into tech. It previously collaborated with Bang & Olufsen for another pair of headphones and it released a US$930 AirPods case in 2023. Ateliers Horizons, meanwhile, has jukeboxes and a boombox included in its growing portfolio of imaginative innovations.
