Hermès Pre-Fall 2018
For pre-fall, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski did what Hermès does best: remind the world what luxury is all about. She lifted the audience from a drab, urban setting outside, offering an autumnal universe built on a moss carpet in the label’s flagship Rue Saint Honoré store. The tailored lineup of silk dresses, figure-hugging suit jackets and loose trousers were distinctly Hermès: impeccable, chic and earthy.
Checks were back from last season, in cheerful hues of red on a tailored vest, paired with loose white trousers and tall, wedge-heel boots. Equestrian references felt fresh, thanks to the colorful riding boots. In electric blue and rain slicker yellow, they brightened the house’s traditionally subdued palette of camel, rust and gray. Along more classic lines was a new take on the hunter jacket, drawn tight to the body and elongated to accommodate four buttons down the front. Stripes on the lapel revealed the fabric’s double-sided nature.
A cropped quilted leather bomber jacket stood out, with long sleeves belted at the wrist and simple zipper up the front — original and contemporary. The rows of small, white hearts on the sweater underneath cemented the message: youthful.
A long skirt carried another interesting leather touch at the waist. Gathered in front while flat and geometric in the back, it was a clever backward-to-forward trick.
Silk and leather stripped dresses were more of a challenge, though, and felt like an experiment with craftsmanship.
Overall, the collection showed a fresh sense of composure from the ever-discreet Vanhee-Cybulski.
Julie Gayet was in the front row, her hair pulled up in a French twist. She tapped her black sandals as music poured out of a grand piano sitting on the moss — which was divine, sprinkled with pine needles and patches of lichen, smelling of forest.
Launch Gallery: Hermès Pre-Fall 2018
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