Hermès’ Princely A/W´23 Men’s Show

For her autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection at Hermès, Véronique Nichanian leaned into an aristocratic sensibility. Anders Christian Madsen reports.

It had a touch of aristo

After her Hermès show, Véronique Nichanian spoke about “a poetic sensibility”. As tradition prescribes, she isn’t a designer who spells out her inspirations to the spectator – favouring instead a chicly elusive approach – but this time, her proposal was more directional, more styled, more suggestive of a certain definable character. The elegant looks that closed the show – their necks tied up and bejewelled like 19th-century dandies – had an air of aristocracy about them, a princeling-like disposition that suited an autumn/winter season which has been formalising its lines, cutting a ceremonial silhouette that feels more serious and refined. “Aristocratic?” she said, confronted with the impression. “That’s fine with me!”

The outerwear was everything

Presented in the UNESCO building – with its macro-mosaic cold, grey stone floors – there was a chilly sophistication to the Hermès collection: angular-cut purified leather coats, jackets and trousers in dusty greys and whites, softly sculpted trousers in draped volumes, fabrics that crinkled crisply like they were almost too fine to wear. The levels of luxe that define Hermès can often feel that way, and it only increases the desirability. This collection excelled in that seduction, from the minimalist navy admiral’s coat to the leather-cuffed tan peacoat and the formal tailoring that hit us at the end, this show was pure outerwear fetish for extra-discerning practitioners.

There were elements of heirlooms

Within her princely, Baudelairean sensibility, another motif began to form in the collection: tops that looked as if they were reconstructed from silk scarves, knits that seemed woven from antique scraps, and tailoring decorated – or mended – with geometrically-shaped fragments of fabric. The techniques all conjured ideas of repurposed heirlooms, memories, and poetry. “When you like something and you don’t want to throw it away,” Nichanian reflected, touching upon a value that’s becoming increasingly prevalent this season: the imbuement of soul into the things we wear and the importance of character in garments.

It didn’t neglect the sportswear

The Hermès collection may have been a formal affair, but Nichanian layered her tailoring and antique-looking knitwear with all the tropes of the sportswear wardrobe, from joggers cuffed at the ankle and baggy trousers to zipped sweatshirts, shell jackets and gilets. Only, their construction and fabrication – or, in many cases, leather-ication – had been amped to the max, completely blurring the lines between sporty, casual and even formal. In that sense, the collection was an exercise in a truly contemporary wardrobe: a post-dress code mentality that freely blends the functions and values of garments.

The accessories were mind-blowing

With the amount of outerwear seduction going down her runway, Nichanian’s addition of accessories almost knocked you off your seat. The supersized, sculpted, slightly aged Birkins! The platformed monk-boots in glazed leathers! The fancy foulards and stirrup-y silver necklaces… There’s only so much a boy can take.