French luxury giants dive into Silicon Valley Silicon Valley, whose billionaires have long stuck to basic, functional apparel, may finally be starting to get a taste for something more extravagant. Sensing an opportunity, French luxury titan Hermes has launched its 34th US store in Palo Alto, the ultra-rich beating heart of the world's technological behemoths. "We opened this new store after our San Francisco store reaped very strong results," Hermes CEO Axel Dumas told shareholders in June. (Fashion Network)