Show Notes: An Undercurrent Of Sensuality At Hermes
Creative director Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski was in a mood this season.
By Keng Yang Shuen,
The house of Hermes is known for its quietly sophisticated aesthetic and way of working but this season, creative director Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski appears to be in a riled-up mood. For one thing – the silhouettes this season were more body-conscious than before, with noticeably short hemlines.
What could account for this frisson of friskiness? According to the press release, Vanhee-Cybulski was obsessed with "voyelles" – gangs of rebellious, rule-breaking Parisian girls who made the Left Bank their haunt in the '50s. These “voyelles” were apparently very gifted in the art of doing the opposite of what the outside world expected of them – and they don't like being boxed into convenient labels.
Here, we take a look at how Vanhee-Cybulski translated their rebelliousness into Hermes' DNA.
The micro hemline quake appears to have reached Hermes too. Only here, Vanhee-Cybulski preferred shorts – some might even call them hot pants. Surprised? Maybe it's time we changed our outdated notions of what constitutes chic and sophisticated. As she tells reporters after the show: “It’s really about how do you translate classicism and sophistication and chic into the idea of a woman really assuming her femininity? The fact (is) that sex is okay – it’s not something to be ashamed of.” Hear! Hear!
Hosiery may sound a tad old-school but we've been seeing a rising reclamation of this traditional accoutrement at various shows. At Hermes, they were paired with knee-high equestrian boots, often with the micro shorts we saw earlier. A styling trick to note, perhaps?
Short hemlines aside, Vanhee-Cybulski also experimented with some nifty plays on textures, textiles and motifs, juxtaposing leather strips with sheer knit insets for an effect that felt coolly elegant with a subtly brazen edge, as if to challenge conventional notions on what makes an Hermes woman.
Accessories – from bags to jewellery – came in strongly geometrical shapes and silhouettes this season (including what looks to be a new take on the maison's classic Kelly bag here).
Accessories - from bags to jewellery - came in strongly geometrical shapes and silhouettes this season.
Accessories – from bags to jewellery – came in strongly geometrical shapes and silhouettes this season