Hermès’ Hair-Inspired A/W´23 Show

At the La Garde Républicaine in Paris, the French maison presented a show inspired by the sensuality of hair. Here, Anders Christian Madsen reports on everything you need to know for autumn/winter 2023.

It was inspired by hair

It was a hair-raising experience: newly-bobbed Nadège Vanhee-Cybulksi decked out her show venue at La Garde Républicaine in a dark orange that initially evoked the signature shade of Hermès but, on closer inspection, looked more like the copper colour of her own trademark locks. “It was about hair. The sensuality of hair. The different hair of women: red hair, blonde Venetians, jaded black. I wanted to play with the complexity of that symbolism and I wanted to take something so trivial and work it in a structural way,” she said after the show.

Colours and techniques were based on hair

“Hair is about identity. It’s a strong feminine attribute. In history, hair was about power, seduction and magic. I wanted to work with that level of symbolism,” Vanhee-Cybulski said, explaining her unusual source of inspiration. (She wasn’t alone in her choice of material this season. The day before her show, Victoria Beckham proposed tops and dresses woven out of acrylic extensions. Maybe there’s a trend forming.) She based her colour palette on traditional hues of hair, and crafted entire bucket bags out of horse hair.

Garments evoked the draping of hair

“I sent some hair to different fashion mills for them to replicate the fibre in the cashmere. In the draping, I really wanted to think about how you twist your hair and break it and wear it,” Vanhee-Cybulski explained. She illustrated it in the braiding of sweaters, in the textures of shearling coats, and in the way scarves and knitted cardigans were draped over the body the way long hair tends to envelop its owner. Metal-threaded silk pieces had the sheen of hair, and – in the light of Hermès – kind of evoked a horse’s pelt as well.

It captured the groundedness of the season

At the root of Vanhee-Cybulski’s proposal was a sentiment of introversion, the way we like to hide under our hair. “A solidity: being centred,” she said. “This collection is more introverted than the last one. In the winter, you want to be wrapped up in your coat.” Her message echoed a season epitomised by a sense of reduction, of dressiness, formality and elegance. You don’t have to read many newspapers at the moment to understand the psychology of that human impulse.

It was rich on new accessories

Vanhee-Cybulski matched her hair hues to her accessories: delectable knee-high suede boots with square toes, a softened Birkin with a new harness detail, oversized sack bags, and bucket bags both in horse hair and leather. She finished off the look with satin riding caps. “It’s like a walk in the forest,” she said. “A connection with nature.”