PARIS FASHION WEEK THE MOMENT OF HERMÉS

Using an innovative cut and a sleek array of new leather styles, house designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski took a good decade off the brand’s target market for Spring / Summer 2022. And somehow made the brand much more relevant.

Hermès is all about understated luxury, but this was a new discretion with a soup of verve and a rich dose of panache.

Dagligé with scalloped neckline and cocktail-studded leather hems of expertly curled gloves that whisper sophistication, but with a hint of rock. While double-breasted coats in studded fine wool injected a bit of posh punk.

The designer’s big idea this season was to play with leather trims on some large crimped jute dresses and white canvas parkas, keeping the house’s equestrian DNA.

In addition, the new Hermès platform sandal, made of foam and finished with logoed leverback straps, can be worn anywhere, elegant yet practical. Crafted in caramel or black and paired with matching socks, they’ve given Hermès a tougher attitude, which can be a little too ladylike and tense at times.

Not this season, where Nadège even sent wool bustiers and a leather bra with stenciled equestrian scenes, worn with matching dhotis. They conclude the show with several beautiful perforated leather dresses and bandit coats in the prettiest of butter yellows.

All shot inside a hangar inside a private jet terminal in  Le Bourget , the historic Paris airport. One side of the hangar opened in the finale, to reveal the two cast points standing in front of the airport. To participate, Hermès insisted that everyone bring their limousines to the show, and then instructed the drivers to play their Bourget playlist in the cars.

A triumph for Vanhee-Cybulski and a significant step forward for Hermès. A day not marred even by the fashion pandemonium outside the show, with VIPs and influencers crying out for limousines in the rain. With the prize for the greatest panic attack went to a trembling Italian publisher. It was time he took the E train to Park Slope.