It all seems so easy in UNESCO this saturday at HermesThis has made this amazing collection for men even more special.
It is often said that fashion is a game of youth. Try to tell it to Hermès Véronique Nichanianhas been the brand’s creative director of menswear for 35 years.
That’s longer than most designers show during the six-day menswear season in Paris. The reason for her longevity is simple: she’s a designer twice as good as most of her peers.
Nichanian is no Karl Lagerfeld when it comes to bon mots after the show. She lets her collection speak for her. This season, we heard a sporty luxury siren song; natural indifference; and confident uber style.
Everything flows from the top, as Veronique plays loosely with the necklines and collars: funnel-shaped cutouts on peacock/donkey coats. Consolidate a hiker’s raincoat neckline into a smart city cape made of cashmere. Add small patches to a black or tobacco brown sweater; before attaching a firefighter’s lanyard to the battleship’s plush gray leather spy trench.
They are very difficult to achieve experiments, but they are all done subtly so they look completely natural.
“Well, it’s winter and you need to stay warm,” Nichanian condescended with a smile after introducing this fall-winter 2023/24 collection.
Above all, the tailoring is first class: nice coats – garish red coats or gorgeous sheriff’s coats trimmed with side pockets – and loose suits, with today’s wide-leg pants combined with a wide-breasted jacket. Even if her key pants are thin leather – chic rock gentleman style.
Loose pants, plush nylon dusters, and shaved fur coats all look good, completing a fairly simple, faultless collection. No other menswear designer these days has such a good self-editing history.
Her palette is dark: charcoal, gravel, fog, caramel, camel, navy and ivory. Her materials are noble, yet novel: waterproof calfskin, sheepskin or cashmere wool mixed with technical satin, rubberized sheepskin and spun canvas.
An overwhelming monochromatic color scheme and no obvious prints, expect a few tasseled silk scarves ex libris, albeit accented with a range of embroidered and stitched sweaters and duos.
“It’s about the light, the material and the place, its pure lines and shapes. Long proportions and once long legs. Straight to the point and upbeat. While stitching is a metaphor for when you love something and don’t want to throw it away and sew it up to keep them longer. A poetic abode,” explains Nichanian, pointing to the surrounding domed concrete columns of the UNESCO complex, perhaps the most important modern architectural statement in Paris.
Nichanian also keeps up with many of today’s favorite men’s fashion trends, but always in her own way. It all leads to the current obsession with tractor-tire boots, which Hermès interprets as the shoe of the season, a monk wearing heavy-soled boots.
Sadly, with noble materials and excellent finishes, these clothes are out of reach for most young men. It’s a pity, because if you want to look modern, classy and stand out and not be obsessed with being a Instagram slaves, this collection for Hermès by Veronique Nichanian is the best menswear collection available today.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
