Hermès Menswear SS25: The Perfect Men's Wardrobe for an Imperfect World

"In my ideal world," I thought, looking at the Hermès show, "the men around me would be dressed like that." The world will never be perfect, but this idea of beauty and harmony is embedded in everything that Hermès does, and it is the most accessible to us in sensations. And it is precisely this idea, embodied in bags, saddles, porcelain, clothes, etc. that draws the customers of the great Parisian house. And Véronique Nichanian knows better than anyone how to express it through the clothes she’s been making for Hermès for almost 40 years — recognisable, but not pretentious; dignifying, but clearly contemporary; elegant, but devoid of any stiffness. All these years, her level of creativity remained exceptional — but even against this background, the current collection stands out.

Véronique Nichanian has always been a master of dizzying simplicity — subtle colour nuances, exceptionally witty details, painstaking work with materials: all that is available only to the owners of these things, all that is not made for — well, not just for — showing off on Instagram, but exists for the joy and sensual pleasure of those who will wear these items.

The entire collection is made in proportions that can be called neither oversize nor fit: Pants, sweatshirts, shirts and T-shirts, jackets, bush jackets, belted parkas, straight blousons, zipped overshirts with short sleeves and sleeveless zipped blousons — all of them free enough to keep the movement of air around the body, so necessary in the summer, and at the same time not look too pouchy.

Thick cotton pants that perfectly hold their shape, beautifully frame the ankles (while the sandals expose the feet), and use elastic band at the waist for maximum comfort. A number of pieces are transformed here. The two-button jackets have a playful collar that can be raised and fastened with a special button so that the piece comes to resemble something like a shortened Nehru jacket. The scarves of the large shirts with scarf collar can be removed, making them look more formal — everything is done in a way that allows you to leave the house in the morning and be ready for everything that the day brings. This idea is also matched by the colours — extremely refined and complex, but also slightly restrained. There are slate, glacier blue, buvard pink (a very noble shade of this colour), lychee, matcha, and as many as three shades of white — steam, offwhite, ecru.

As always with Hermès, the fabrics and materials account for a notable part of the pleasure of wearing these clothes, and even their names sound like music — cotton batiste, crepe cotton serge, crepe cotton twill, cotton and silk voile, linen and wool canvas, spinnaker canvas.

Sometimes, several fabrics are used at once, such as in the double shirts, where the upper layer is made of cotton batiste, and the lower layer is made of silk twill with L'Instruction du Roy print, and when you walk, the light upper layer baloons, revealing the lower one.

Sometimes, the choice of material creates a whole plot: the collection has windbreakers made from spinnaker canvas, which is used in sail production and which produces a characteristic rustling sound when moving. Now imagine a picture: a spinnaker windbreaker that rustles in the wind in unison with the sail of your yacht. That would be the visualisation of true luxury.

But Hermès strongly believes that the real beauty derives from function and never forgets the general framework. The most memorable accessory of this collection is a drawning tube made of culfskin in dark chocolate colour without any compromises: each of its compartments is securely closed with a special snap cover so that neither the sketches in one, nor the pencils in the other can fall out or get wrinkled. In other words, it is quite a professional tool, but one executed from the most precious material in the most precious way, which gives it an additional decorative function, inherent to any Hermès accessory.

But in the world of Hermès, even such things as the white culfskin jeans and the pink suede shirt with a scarf collar, fit into the mold of this impeccable functionality despite their extravagance — and reveal their true nature only when you get to hold them. And Véronique Nichanian is perhaps the only contemporary menswear designer who can make white leather jeans in a way that they provoke no questions, only admiration.

Courtesy: Hermès

Text: Elena Stafyeva