Hermès Explores its Roots for Fall/Winter 2021 Collection

Since joining as the Artistic Director of Hermès in 2014, French designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski has been striving to bring the house closer to its roots, as she has proven that she has no desire to keep in line with fashion. The advantage of a traditionalist brand like Hermès, which holds firm in its codes to serve a loyal audience, is that its collections are less about fashion and more about adapting the excellence of its sewing studios and (mainly) the treatment of leather to contemporary desires. For this Fall/Winter 2021 season, the presentation video toured New York, Paris, and Shanghai, mixing the traditional show with the opening and closing of contemporary dance performances—everything to symbolize the “movement” that is the keyword chosen by Nadège for the season. Despite keeping the silhouette drawn, nothing is done there to hinder the freedom of the body: the pants are straight, the dresses are comfortable, and the jackets—which keep an eye on the safari aesthetic—don't constrict. It's about comfort, but, of course, it's also about the different raw materials that the stylist has at her disposal in the classic Hermès studios: leather with different weights and improvements, silks, and a series of untampered jeans.