The art of the Hermès vocabulary! One outstanding thing—among many—to appreciate about the culture of this house is its use of endlessly nuanced color. Véronique Nichanian spoke about wanting “deep and strong dark colors mixed together to give an energy, because I think that in this very deep time, very difficult time, we need to bring some energy again, and some sweetness and happiness in our clothes.”
The seemingly 50 shades of brown on her runway were listed in the show program like a posh house paint-color card: “brown, coffee, bronze, chrome green, lead, taupe, slate, charcoal gray, navy, prunoir.” These were to be contrasted with “vanilla, pebble, celadon blue, desert, rope.”
The tremendous precision Nichanian applies allows for swaths of jackets and short coats—bombers, raincoats, parkas, duffle coats, flying jackets—each a perfect blend of utilitarian restraint and ultra-sophistication. She lulls you into such a meditative state of visual relaxation that it counts as an exciting surprise when an Hermès version of a taupe workwear jacket suddenly has a dark brown leather placket strip, or a cashmere horse blanket becomes a beige raincoat liner.
Nichanian’s rigorously subtle aesthetics create a kind of narrowness without tightness. It’s amazing to see what she does when she leaves off outerwear—just a pair of perfectly fitted buttoned-up long-sleeve shirts and trousers. One of them manifested as a shirt and jeans; not double denim but double beige suede calfskin.
All of this strikes a noticeable contrast to the oversized-of-jacket and the baggy-of-pants look that’s become the norm almost everywhere else in men’s fashion. It wouldn’t do for Hermès to be trendy anyway—though that does not mean Nichanian isn’t thinking about what can switch things up for her customer. This season, that was her inclusion of two perfect narrow-arrow double-breasted suits, shown with shirts and ties. What used to be the epitome of the boring business suit—groaned over by the dad generation—has now become avant-garde and young. “I think it’s time to bring back the pleasure of wearing a suit, not because you have to, but for the fun of it,” she suggested at the end of the show. “I think it’s chic, more designed, having a beautiful double-breasted suit with a tie. And,” she said, laughing, “more sexy, I think.”
