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Strength and Sensuality in Hermès FW2026 Ready-to-Wear Collection
"I was interested in playing with the dichotomy between discipline and sensuality, stripping and layering, the softness of skin and the harshness of skin, and everything in this dichotomy working in tandem rather than fighting against each other," says Hermès creative director Nadège Vanhée. Her latest collection is built entirely on this principle of harmonious opposition, where light separates from darkness, strength from fragility, yellow from gray, and celadon from Bordeaux. The entire scenographic concept of the show traced the transition from day to night – that liminal moment when one thing becomes something else entirely. Even the models' makeup evolved from beginning of the show to the end, intensifying in shades as if following the deepening twilight.
Nadège Vanhée has been championing a rather narrow silhouette for several seasons now. Whether fit or simply following the curves of the body, her focused aesthetic has remained unwavering, even as perennial oversize trends have overtaken the other fashion houses around her. Now, that silhouette has found itself at the very top of the fashion scene. Everyone is trying to emulate it, but few succeed in making it look neither cartoonish nor démodé. At the hands of Nadège Vanhée, it looks chic – not the least because she has at her disposal the incomparable level of Hemès' crafts and materials. A second-skin jodhpur jumpsuit in glossy Bordeaux lambskin with silk knit details; a long zipped skirt in celadon plongé ostrich, unzipped high at the front – only at Hermès do such pieces achieve absolute luxury and elegance without the slightest hint of vulgarity.
Another favorite silhouette of hers, a short A-line she has explored in previous collections, returned this season. It was showcased in the form of zipped leather skirts, including quilted versions, as well as minidresses that artfully combine leather with knitwear and quilted printed silk. The Perspective print, taken from the Hermès archives and created for the house in the 1950s by Cassandre, appears in several other looks. It features most notably on a cape, one side of which is made of silk bearing this print of clouds seen through whimsical window frames, and the other of fine cloth the color of the night sky. This marks the second collection in a row to use the archival print, serving as an kind reminder that the maison Hermès has archives of everything, not just leather and silk сarrés.
Jodhpurs with braces, jodhpurs in wool and silk knit, cycle shorts in glossy lambskin – all of these are future bestsellers that you'll have to hunt for. And, of course, a long belted trench coat in Bordeaux lacquered fine lambskin with a detachable collar in Bordeaux brisa sheepskin, and a fitted biker dress with an asymmetrical zip in ochre-brown glossy lambskin are the undeniable highlights of this collection.
Finally, the Paddock covers for the classic Hermès bags – like Plume Fourre-Tout, Bolide 1923, and Kelly Retourné – will be a collector's dream. The sheaths covering the bags bring to mind horses in a paddock. The effect is twofold – the leather underneath is protected, and there is the illusion of two different bags instead one – the only kind of practicality Hermès clients could dream of.
Courtesy: Hermès
Text: Elena Stafyeva