Summer is ushered in with Hermès ready-to-wear SS23
What further proof do we need that summer is finally here than words like ‘lemonade’, ‘melon’, ‘bubble gum’ and ‘lagoon’ used to describe the burst of colour splashed across this year’s Hermès ready-to-wear SS23 collection? It’s as though artistic director Véronique Nichanian has given us all permission to put on our out-of-office, order a cocktail and watch the sun set over some imagined faraway beach. Who are we to go against the wishes of Nichanian? Since joining the Paris maison in 1988, she has become indomitable as fashion’s most celebrated female designer of menswear.
Her latest SS collection debuted last June in the open-air enclosure of the Manufacture des Gobelins, a historic tapestry factory in Paris. Overseen by theatre director Cyril Teste, Nichanian’s longtime collaborator, each look was conceived of as an artist’s canvas that emerges from the grand entrance of the building. As each model sauntered down the runway, the artwork was seen to be “swaying slightly in the breeze before disappearing.”
For her first ensemble, Nichanian set the tone by pairing billowing black Bermuda shorts cut well above the knee with a bright orange turtleneck emblazoned with the sun setting over a calm, rippling seascape. This playful outfit established a clean break from last year’s more practical look, with its muted grey and bay tones offset only by subtle accents of turquoise and pink. Instead, throughout this year’s 53 looks, Nichanian has peppered statement pieces that pop in lilac, yellow and grapefruit pink. Even the collection’s neutral colours belong to a crisp monochromatic palette of whites and blacks, and, elsewhere, the richly warm cocoa tones of ‘sienna’ brown.
The simple serenity of the Sunset motif is quite unlike the collection’s strange creatures that have emerged from the ocean’s depths to adorn sweaters, shirts and vests. A cashmere pullover draws attention for the abstract patterns made from a majestic crayfish’s shell and sweeping antennae. Lighter cotton tank tops and polo shirts are adorned with a seahorse that stands out for its spectacular coronet.
Elsewhere, more subtle design elements also allude to the joys of summer, such as the floral fronds that edge over the shoulder of one shirt or reappear across the body of another blouson. The ‘Ondulations’ design offers a more essential, stylised take on the abundant organic forms that fill our world during the warmer months. On several items, a checked pattern of undulating lines recalls the hazy distortion of tiles seen from the bottom of a swimming pool.
Other items chucked out since last year are rope belts and canvas lace-ups, replaced with more conspicuous fluorescent bucket hats, silk twills and calfskin sandals. Another vibrant touch is the ‘Hermès Pacific’ twist on the classic ‘Garden Party Voyage’ bag, as well as canvas beach bags in the print ‘Après la vague’. Loose fitted items with drawstring waists carry the air of easy living, but Nichanian has catered for all eventualities, both sun-drenched and stormy, by including a generous array of hooded parkas and windbreakers.
Taken as a whole, the collection expresses a warm nostalgia, causing our minds to wander wistfully back to holidays past, whether on the warm terrace of a Tuscan villa or in a seafood restaurant overlooking the bay.
Photography and collage Marine Giraudo
Styling Lune Kuipers
Casting Marqee Miller
Model Feranmi at Premium
This article is taken from Port issue 32. To continue reading, buy the issue or subscribe here
