Hermès (Q284)
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French luxury goods manufacturer
- Hermès International SA
- Hermès International
- Hermès of Paris
- Hermes
- Hermes International SA
- Hermes International
- Hermes International S.A.
- Hermes of Paris
- Hermès International S.A.
- HERMES INTERNATIONAL
- Hermès Sellier
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Hermès |
French luxury goods manufacturer |
|
Statements
2001
creative director of fine jewellery
accessory designer
designer
unknown
Fashion has taken a turn for the sexy. It tends to happen in spring seasons, but this year it’s more pronounced than ever, with cone bras from the 1950s and Victorian underpinnings like hoop skirts and pantaloons from more than half a century earlier turning up on the runways. Hermès’s Nadège Vanhée had a similar instinct: “What I want to convey as the message is the idea of an assertive sensuality,” she said. “You know, it’s about the summer, a feel-good summer, and, really, this relationship you have with your skin.” Only she isn’t interested in the styles of the past; she’s thinking about the way to put a luxury spin on the sheer trend, and how the Hermès clients would mix it with her leather pieces.Vanhée’s proposal was sheer mesh, which she cut into fluid pants with zips up the sides that can be undone, if the mood strikes, to create the suggestion of a maxiskirt shape. While intertwining lightness and sturdiness, she paired these with leather jackets cut as thin as cotton that were cropped and left open over a bra top or cut like an anorak and belted at the waist. They were shapes lifted from activewear, with the casual, relaxed attitude to match. Her message about feeling comfortable in your skin was especially resonant because she was one of the few designers to cast models of diverse sizes this season in Paris, where many others have stubbornly and frustratingly reverted to the size-0 mien.Another way Vanhée caught the lightness everyone wants in summer was to use the silk twill of Hermès’s famous scarves—in this case both block- and screen-printed—for breezy garments like a shirtdress built on leather shoulders or a short romper. A woven leather dress and another in embroidered mesh picked up the graphic pattern of the scarves, and save for a few fuchsia looks, everything came in warm neutral shades that looked baked by the sun. Providing a steady foundation for these vacation-ready pieces was Vanhée’s typically excellent footwear: streamlined and chic riding boots on the one hand, and on the other, playful but practical clog sandals.
28 September 2024
“Lightness, peace, softness—that’s the inspiration, what we wish for.” Véronique Nichanian took us to the seaside at Hermès. Her models scuffed along in strappy leather sandals and wide-leg pants cropped north of the ankles, with their biceps bared by zip-front sleeveless leather jackets and flexing with the weight of a “beach” bag. Though, of course, the Haut à Courroies is not made from woven straw or plastic.That was the heart of this exercise: elevating beach clothes, which are typically made in the humblest of fabrics, with Hermès-level materials—and somehow not relinquishing their relaxed, easygoing spirit in the process. The fact that Nichanian did so elegantly is a testament to her sensibilities and her skills with leather, which looked as supple as silk on a button-down and matching neckerchief in pale lavender (one of many soft, pretty colors). The way shirts were buttoned only up to the midriff; the manner in which the necklines of the tank tops worn underneath them were scooped just so, displaying the barest flashes of chest; and even the tender reveal of the ankles under those high-water pants were all details that showcase Nichanian’s feel for languor.As befits her intentions, there wasn’t much in the way of traditional suits. Instead, Nichanian gave tailored jackets a playful spin with a naive floral print—almost like a doodle—or manipulated lapels so the blazers had a less formal vibe. The sheer jacket at the end looked like a callback to the sexy collection she showed a year ago that fashion people couldn’t stop talking about. A few looks before that she conjured something similar with a voile shirt that had unfinished side seams, so that the back panel caught the breeze as the model wound around the Palais d’léna.Keeping with the beachy theme, a few of the models were “tattooed” with a swirling harness motif lifted from a tank top, a shorts-and-camp-shirt set, and a button-down worn entirely unbuttoned with softly pleated pants. A bit of fun. For the Hermès man who takes dressing well seriously, there were plenty more of those roomy blouson shapes to hook him.
22 June 2024
Nadège Vanhée let her inner New Yorker out tonight. The Hermès artistic director was going on four years in the city when she was plucked from The Row’s design studio by Axel Dumas, Hermès’s executive chairman. Ten years later, a milestone not many designers manage to reach at heritage labels these days, she’s still going strong.So strong, Hermès came to town to stage a sort of part deux of the fall collection she presented in Paris in March. The house has so far been a resort season holdout. In aninterviewearlier this week, Vanhée said this show was a one-off, not the beginning of a new destination show routine: “I have a special connection with New York. When I did this second chapter I felt it was relevant to show it here because it’s the perfect blend between a French and an American girl.”For years, “French girl style” has been internet gold, and decades before that, the French were pop culture-famous for their way with silk scarves. In real life the similarities and differences between French and American women are equally elusive, but a few things seem to be mutually agreed upon. Like the necessity of smart, sexy leather pants (high-waisted, cropped above the ankle, and worn with exceedingly covetable glossy leather cowboy boots), the cool factor of a roomy jumpsuit in, say, horizontally oriented corduroy with leather sleeves (note the aforementioned scarves tucked into the collars), and the fun of wearing fistfuls of rings and bracelets.With its roots in equestrianism, Hermès is an outdoorsy brand, but this collection, like the one in Paris in March, was urban and urbane, with Kelly bags strapped over shoulders or worn around the waist to keep hands free for the daily commute. Statement outerwear, another city-dweller essential, was also much in evidence, from a reversible cropped puffer, one side in electric blue shaved shearling and the other in a darker leather, to a taxi yellow trench with turned-up brown leather cuffs. That color was the biggest surprise, given the mutual French and American (or New Yorker at least) preference for black.After Vanhée came out for a bow, curtains peeled back to reveal well-stocked bars and a stage lit up with a sign reading Hermès Manhattan Rocabar, it being a Franglish portmanteau for striped horse rug, the patterns of which were another collection leitmotif.
Before long, Caroline Polachek came out in a traffic-stopping red leather vest and pants to perform her runaway hit “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings,” a very on-message sentiment.
6 June 2024
The fall Hermès collection was dedicated to horses and motorbikes, “two riding sports,” Nadège Vanhee said. She herself prefers a bicycle because “it’s safe,” but she had a good time exploring the parallel motifs. You could say she let loose, if the leather clothes weren’t so body-conscious.The set was a change of scene from last season’s grassy meadow. Today’s runway was black and slick, the way nighttime streets look wet in the movies, with metal grates running the length of it. Then it actually did start raining. Leave it to Hermès to make its own weather.Vanhee’sBikeuse Équestrebuilds her outfits from the ground up: Pointy-toe cowboy boots are paired with cropped and flared stretch leather pants, and flat knee-high moto boots with side zips are partnered with skirts and dresses. Both styles had editors talking excitedly afterward; they’ll probably be as expensive as a motorcycle, or at least a fancy bike, but they’re classic (and well made) enough to be worth the investment.Hermès’s power customers may not have to bother with those sorts of calculations, but Vanhee seems to keep them in her head when she’s designing. There was investment leather outerwear from start to finish: cabans with shaved-shearling shawl collars, fitted equestrian jackets and others that were rounder through the shoulders and sleeves, and, most exceptionally, a jacket embroidered with glossy ostrich feathers.The sexy bits were the ribbed leather leggings and leather pencil skirts with slits up the side or middle front, one with small silver studs trimming the edges. It’s exciting to see Vanhee exploring such frankly sexual territory when she has so often operated in a more decorous space. But in the end, the soft printed and gently studded silk dresses with smocked waists will be easier to ride a horse or a motorcycle in.
2 March 2024
When they go wide, Hermès goes narrow(ish): Véronique Nichanian delivered a collection this afternoon that she described as “dandy chic” with a twist of “English fantasy”—but it had a tougher edge, too. It also contained one of the slimmer tailoring silhouettes (along with Dolce & Gabbana) that we’ve seen during this season.The palette was a series of putties and grays with the odd foray into violet, lime and blue before a long closing evening section in black. Outerwear saw classics remixed in subtle ways, partly through leather accents: the addition of a rubberized panel to a caban and a duffle coat gave them a tougher, donkey jacket aspect. There was a slick series of pieces in blue-shot Prince of Wales check including a hybrid material black calfskin jacket and taper-legged suiting worn over chromatically colored knitwear or a diagonally patterned tie.A pale violet half-zip in leather, a black A-2 flight jacket also in leather and a black shawl collared shearling coat were among the many ideal iterations of various menswear forms on display. There were two interesting long black leather coats, belted, whose pocket placement made them resemble the responsible elder brother of a perfecto. Knitwear featured mixed argyle patterns: menswear anarchy. The apparently unaligned waistband on a pair of suiting trousers worn below a silvery silk evening shirt with an asymmetrical collar was similarly low-key radical. Accessories included crocodile belts and boots, amulet-like silver necklaces, a patterned deerskin snood, cashmere beanies, and gummed canvas bucket hats. Equestrian print canvas bags edged in leather and Haut à Courroies bags—the ultimate gentleman’s Hermès grail—in three house-developed calfskin treatments. This was another deep dive into the Hermès masculine tradition that delivered some freshly wearable pearls.
20 January 2024
Nadège Vanhee never needs to expend a moment’s worry over whether Hermès fits into the ‘quiet luxury’ conversation—it’s the indubitable home of it. For spring, her collection was exactly that: discreet but extreme luxury Hermès dressing expressed in top-to-toenail tonal colors.Backstage, the creative director was explaining that the colors—burgundy through putty, black, red and brown—are “actually those of the leather goods.” These shades are so specific to Hermès that they have names, such as Rouge H for the burgundy, Étoupe gray for the putty, and Opera Red for the scarlet that came at the end of the show.It was a summery scene, set with banks of reeds and flowers as among sand dunes. Vanhee said “I was talking about friendship between women and the friendship of clothes.” Relaxed but precise it was, and as always, subtly coded with Hermès references. The tailored coats had a soft mobility about them done, she pointed out,“with fluid, saddle-shaped pattern cutting.” Even the tiny zig-zag lace-like details on cotton summery dresses turned out to be leather, stamped out in the same pattern as Hermès brogues.She called the knitwear “modular,” meaning sectioned-out asymmetric cropped tops, bras and pencil skirts. Even then, the leather was in play; some pieces were tooled from finest vertical strips of lambskin in an infinitesimally minute Hermès-specific technique.The point of all this—the show-off part secreted among all this quiet super-luxury—is to give the impression of a wardrobe for an easy lifestyle. That goes right down to the Greek-style sandals “in ribbon and woven calfskin” shown in every color, with nail polish to match. Even the soles, it turned out, had Hermès treads “adorned with Medor studs.” No detail is overlooked when it comes to ensuring the footprint of this house is consistently recognizable.
1 October 2023
What a hot, hot collection for a steamy, sultry day in Paris. Under Véronique Nichanian, Hermès menswear is always a paragon of good taste, and today was no exception. Though never ostentatiously conceptual, this is a decidedly cerebral and undeniably lofty maison. Yet this afternoon, Nichanian fashioned a menswear collection that was undeniably sensual—sexy, even. One got the impression it was designed to stir the imagination in directions perhaps not automatically associated with this zenith of savoir faire.Built for extreme heat (unlike so many of this season’s bulky, outerwear-heavy “summer” lineups), the collection used breezy volumes and light fabrications to enable the wearer’s skin to breathe and—it must be said—the onlooker to breathe in the view. Sheer cotton with a lattice-like mesh in shirting, and chalky-finish sheer fabrics in jackets invited the eye to wonder as it wandered. Additional to these were shorts—in cotton, linen, and lambskin—which my Vogue Business colleague Laure Guilbault astutely observed to Nichanian afterwards “are very short.”“Very short shorts, yes!” the designer concurred. “The garçons have beautiful legs!” Nichanian added that, in a season where young women often wear short skirts and a social moment where former gender norms have become increasingly fluid, it seemed only equitable to afford the same high-hemmed opportunity to men. Guilbault signaled her agreement. Hermès was legs for days.It was not all about short shorts and sheer shirts—this is Hermès, after all. Invariably secured with double-strap stirrup belts, not unlike their watch straps, pants were cut close to the hip before broadening via pleats to drop expansively straight to mid-ankle. This lent enough room to consider the lovely sandals, quite high-soled, with serge strapping in black, cream, and brown. Later a similar upper but in calfskin was teamed with a molded sole etched with nubbly rubber studs for purchase.The one category that is never not sexy here delivered once again. Most especiallyooh la lawere the Haut à Courroies bags in brown and marine-touched gray that had the apparently sun-faded shadow of a name tag and padlock stenciled on one side. In the burgundy colorway, it was borderline orgasmic. There were tote bags in soft rope and leather, latticed like the shirts, plus a boxy little black hip bag.
Nichanian fulfilled her employer’s theme of the year with this collection, while also honoring the house’s rich equestrian heritage: Hermès was hot to trot.
24 June 2023
It was a good hair day at Hermès. Over the winter, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski had woken up and decided to chop off her long copper-red mane. “I put a band around it and did it myself,” she said. She was walking around backstage, looking great, with her new bob. It mightn’t jump out immediately from the photographs, but the subtle-chic she put into her collection was rooted (forgive pun) in her “tribute to hair, human hair. And the symbolism of it as a feminine attribute.”She glancingly suggested that she’d loosely based the top-to-toe hues on the dye-charts of hair colors that every woman knows from the aisles of drug stores the world over. The opening look—a wavy-patterned lurex sweater over matching knee-length shorts—hit the runway dangling a bag made of horse hair, cinched in the middle with a silver-embossed leather strap. A wink, perhaps, to the moment that Vanhee-Cybulski lopped off her own pony-tail.It gave her a kind of reference framework for various techniques. It was picked up in the braid on the front of a sweater, the detail of chunky scarves which were thrown over the backs of jackets and fastened with chrome bands, the rippling waves embedded in an intarsia shearling coat.Yet Hermès never relies on anything as obvious as a mono-themed narrative. In the broader context of fashion, Vanhee-Cybulski’s collection is one place where it’s all about the value of clothes, and the nuances and functionality threaded through the bags and accessories.All eyes were riveted by the square-toed over-the-knee suede boots which went with everything, in every shade, from the beginning to the silky plissé beaded dresses at the end. The heels, made in the elegantly tapered shape of inverted horse-shoe nails, were an on-point silhouette for women on the lookout for a new alternative to stilettos. Vanhee-Cybulski delights in developing these details, on a continuum that upholds the casual outdoor-sporty culture of the house in ingeniously posh ways. The technical padded jacket, for one. This season, it took on the sense of a brown duvet-parka, with a back hitched up with a shoulder-chain. It turned out to unzip into an actual sleeping bag. And amongst these looks came the classic Birkin, de-ladyfied and casualized for everyday with useful, removable cross-body straps.Vanhee-Cybulski had a great way of describing how she thinks about coaxing this kind of modernity out of classic, conservative design templates.
“They are archetypes, maybe the most boring clothes on earth, but I want to kind of bring this surprising creativity to them,” she remarked. “I want to keep this tradition of finding the right balance between the pattern and the fabric. I mean,” she added, “I’m definitely the first one saying that I love casual—but it’s also important that we are keeping alive the science of pattern cutting and draping.”
4 March 2023
“I like the idea to play with thevestiaire masculin. After Covid, when we used to dress in the light comfortable jogging, now we want to be dressed more sexy for the evening. Wearing some earrings and something sexy like that—and I like the idea of doing the same in the daylight.” Al fresco sexiness? This was a frisky position to take—especially considering we were at Hermès, the epitome of civilized savoir faire. And yet Véronique Nichanian is not the longest-standing creative director in all of fashion for nothing.Leather, the core metier of Hermès, is a sexy substance to wear and sometimes even touch: a second skin warmed by the person within it. Here Nichanian unleashed a gallery of pulsating pieces: wide-legged black calfskin pants, calfskin jackets, half-zip sweatshirts and overshirts, deerskin blousons, and a devastatingly gorgeous black cardigan top in lamb shearling. To raise the temperature a notch more, there was also some role play: the opening gray leather overcoat featured a gleaming fireman’s jacket fastening (as did some short equivalents later). There were naval pea coats patched with calfskin, full-throttle aviators in sheepskin, and even a black zippered blouson or two that had a vibe and attitude that conjured a hint of punk.The models wore slightly stacked triple monk strap boots or sneakers, and carried a selection of bags designed to drive any Hermès fan to ecstasy. There was portage sized for every persuasion, but the hottest hand-candy was undoubtedly plus-sized: the HAC (Haut à courroies) bags that were the original basis of the house’s Birkin. Featuring a side pocket and chunky hardware, these came in a variety of seductive fabrications: Barénia Faubourg calfskin, mat crocodile, Fjord cowhide and Togo calfskin. As advertised by Nichanian, many of the models did indeed wear earrings and chains in white gold and diamond named Chaos Fancy. There were also leather necklaces from which dangled gleaming metal dice.Other persuasive daywear pieces included folkish knits whose patterns transitioned from all-cream to color half way around the body and short-sleeved versions of the Guernsey. Many of the pieces featured little sections of braided leather inserted into the garments to resemble patches, a conceit Nichanian said spoke to her love of those who stay true to their most beloved garments by giving them therapeutic repair.
By night she leant to black in a selection whose highlights included fitted knits cut into pale foulards, and a regal lambskin topcoat framed at the top by an ebony foulard cravat. All the way through, the silhouette and line kept inhaling and exhaling, in and out, from bulked up to slim, rigid to soft, smooth to textured. This was the hottest Hermès for some time.
21 January 2023
The centerpiece of the Hermès show was a large dune. We were camping—or better make that glamping, given the environs. “The Hermès girls are taking a bivouac, a big hike in the desert, and setting up a camp at sunset to have a party, a big rave,” Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski said backstage.After a couple of years of lockdowns, the vacation industry came roaring back this summer. Instagram feeds were awash with content from picturesque spots, a sort of one-upmanship of far-off destinations—Patagonia, Kenya, Alaska. All that long-distance travel, that living outdoors, requires a different kind of gear than our urban existence does, and we’ve made kitting ourselves out part of the fun.Vanhee-Cybulski—a day hiker more than a camper, she confessed—had clearly studied the utilitarian details of outdoor equipment. The back of a tech-fabric raincoat rolled up to reveal an underlayer of breathable mesh, and slim-line dresses were built with user-friendly zips that allow their wearer to customize the look. Elastic cording, though less adaptable, evoked the tension and release of tent construction. She didn’t push the metaphor too far. A hooded rain poncho in the supplest leather wouldn’t be worth much out in the elements, for example, and the platform sandals couldn’t get far in the wild, but they do hew to the experienced trekker’s cardinal rule: They’re remarkably light.What the season’s theme gave Vanhee-Cybulski a chance to do was play with gorgeous desert colors: a whole palette of earthy tans, browns, and terra-cottas, as well as luscious sunset hues. A terrific dress in color-blocked shades of pink was designed to evoke flags rustling in the wind. The scarf-print numbers looked even better with a pair of 3D glasses. As ever, what the Hermès ateliers can get up to with leather is impressive. A dress with circular leather appliqués that got subtly bigger from neck to hem was a breezy knockout.
2 October 2022