Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
PARIS, France — Windbreakers and track pants are imperatives in menswear right now. Any house in need of an injection of youthfulness, or coolness, is adding them to its array of products. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The sight of shiny k-ways under tailored blazers, and baggy nylon pants under topstitched coats at Hermès was, quite frankly, odd: a luxurious yet desperate attempt to catch the zeitgeist.
Keeping up with the times, of course, is mandatory, even for an institution as timeless as Hermès. Yet, a little bit more nuance is what one expects from a designer at the caliber of Veronique Nichanian. The execution, of course, was one hundred percent Hermès: faultless, impeccable, strong on superb leathers and the finest fabrics. Sophisticated nonchalance, digressions on volumes, bright colour and playful graphics is what the press release announced, and what the catwalk delivered. It felt like properly done homework however. Nothing more.
