These Accessories By Hermes Come With Major Wow Factor
These objects by Hermes will inspire wonder and astonishment.
By Noelle Loh,
The first rule at Hermes this year? Celebrate astonishment – to never lose wonder, and to find play, surprise and delight in even the simplest of things. So that’s exactly what we did with a selection of the maison’s accessories that are at once chic, curious and astounding works of craft.
The former features Hermes’ Collier de Chien bracelet unexpectedly transformed into a belt fastened around the tote’s mouth, lending both structure and security for the contents inside. The latter’s a novel, Muppet-fied take on the brand’s popular casual slides: extra fun and extra comfy in furry purple sheepskin.
Skirt and socks, stylist’s own
Its jewellery-like sculpted metal handle alone – inspired by a horse bit and meticulously crafted by Hermes’ silversmiths – will warrant a closer look, but did you also know that its smooth cylindrical body is made from a single piece of leather?
How’s this for a distinctively Hermes take on the Western footwear trend? Besides equestrian-inspired buckles on the back straps, the patchwork leather uppers are laser-cut and embroidered with motifs adapted from the brand’s Astrologie Bandana carre then secured to their sturdy beech wood platform base by hand using around a total of 80 nails per pair.
Inspired by the wardrobe of gauchos, the Anate line is Hermes’ homage to leather in motion. Under it, the lightweight Kelly Danse – which can be worn in multiple ways including as a belt bag and backpack thanks to its adjustable strap – gets a further injection of casual cool with extra-long fringing that’s braided on to create the illusion of added movement. More playful “fringe benefits” come with Hermes’ anime-esque, animal-shaped leather charms and keyrings. Each one is adorned with lively tassels created by wrapping strips of supple milo lambskin around themselves and keeping stitching to a minimum so that the fringe can move freely. Another fun fact: The pupils of the charms’ eyes are hot-stamped on using black film.
Top and skirt, stylist’s own
Who would have expected this to be one of Hermes’ latest beauty products? Crafted with satiny Evercolor calfskin and the naturally grained Swift calfskin, this dinky number holds a lippie tube securely with a mini bridle strap while its base is carefully constructed to rest flat so it doubles up as an objet d’art.
Addictively stackable and collectible whether they’re plain (second from bottom) or artfully printed with motifs drawn from Hermes’ expressive scarves. For example, the wide bangle featuring the Please Check In artwork (top) – artist Dimitri Rybaltchenko’s X-ray style portrayal of the inside of a Kelly bag – gives the illusion of transparent objects because it’s printed in positive on the outside and in negative on the inside. Meanwhile the Clic Clac All Over bangle (bottom) sports an adaptation of illustrator Florence Manlik’s Le Chat (French for cat) carre design and accurately recreates its visual representation of the texture of a feline’s coat – a printing process that calls for utmost technical expertise.
Styling Noelle Loh, assisted by Danessa Tong Photography Phyllicia Wang
This article first appeared in the Sept 2023 Make It Work! Edition of FEMALE