The collection designed by Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski for Hermès could best be described as clean and precise. A definition not to be confused, however, with the adjective often abused elsewhere of “minimal” or “essential.” In fact, there is no sleekness of design in this collection: the lines are clean because they are extremely refined. This is not intentional frugality, but opulence taken to its most refined extreme: precision and exactitude.
Perfectly in line with the house’s classic DNA, there are no frills or superfluous decorations on the runway; the lines are simple in their richness. It is a controlled and well-calibrated luxury, the quintessence of luxury according to Hermès. The color palette follows this same principle of balance. Bordeaux, midnight blue, ochre, gray, camel and green combine in particularly successful combinations. Here and there a few bolder notes emerge, such as a bright blue, which is also, however, dosed with extreme restraint.
As always, leather is the great protagonist: declined in skirts, blazers, tight shirts and classically cut jackets, as well as, unfailingly, in shoes and boots. The latter dominate the scene, stretched to above the knee and offered in shades ranging from burgundy to ochre, strictly with low heels. Leather belts are also cleverly paired in a styling that now uses contrast, such as bright red to break up, or ton-sur-ton, with belts that blend with the colors of the outfit but subtly mark the waist. The femininity of the Hermès woman is made, in fact, of light touches and minimal accouterments, devoid of those elements that traditionally define the most obvious feminine imagery, such as vertiginous heels, sinuous lines or glittering accessories.
Coats with fur collars and interesting pullovers with contrasting tie prints also stand out among the garments: a trompe-l’œil that suggests a material overlay that does not actually exist. Some more experimental accents appear in the prints of some dresses, which evoke almost psychedelic motifs, while maintaining a graphic and structural rigor consistent with the entire collection.
References to the equestrian world, a founding part of Hermès’ identity, are clearly present here. However, they appear more modern and subtle: reworked through a contemporary palette and through current cuts that renew the link with tradition but manage to fuse past and present. The result is a collection that plausibly may reflect codes of reference of a loyal clientele, while moving toward a clear and well-defined future, free of nostalgic anchorage.
[📷 Getty Images]
