Youthful Discretion at Hermès

PARIS, France — An Hermès show can be a fitting metaphor for the slow evolution of menswear — or certain areas of it. More or less, season after season, you have the impression of seeing the same collection, give or take a colour or a detail. Men's artistic director Véronique Nichanian is currently into acidic yellow, purple and tie-dye, which made for a jolly and youthful offer of slim tailoring and slimmer leisurewear. Maybe too slim, in fact: given the current interest in bigger shapes, and Hermes' status as the temple of subtle discretion, it would have been stimulating to see Nichanian testing new silhouettes, in place of adding new surfaces to familiar ones.