Bags and clothing made for movement
Hermès is not a fashion brand.”
This, coming from Hermès Philippines’ Mario Katigbak, is a surprise when a socially distanced few have gathered for a viewing of the brand’s women’s fall/winter 2021 collection.
But there is truth in his words, because, as Mario concludes, “Hermès is a craftsman brand. And that is why you can wear the pieces for years to come for its outstanding quality.”
It’s also why the brand has been able to resist the pinch of these challenging times, reported worldwide as the best performer in the luxury industry last year as we continue to seek beauty, invest in quality, and thirst for a narrative.
Back in the Greenbelt 3 store, the brand’s home division leads the growth, “especially the plates. They are the bestseller during the lockdown months,” according to seasoned hotelier-turned-deputy general manager Stephanie Chong. Even if your latest kitchen masterpiece gleaned from YouTube University is not palatable, at least it’s visually appetizing on an Hermès plate!
If there’s anything good that’s come out of these challenging community quarantine months, it is the learning, the rethinking, the momentum created for change.
“The moment we are currently experiencing is important because it is changing everything we think we know,” says Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, artistic director of womenswear. “We are rethinking our connection to other people.”
Vanhee-Cybulski chose to collaborate with two female choreographers set in opposite parts of the world in a conscious move to let women take control of how femininity is defined.
In a tale of three cities, the womenswear presentation is a triptych prologued in the Armory in New York with choreography by New York City-based American artist Madeline Hollander, the collection showcased in a fashion show at the Garde Républicaine in Paris, and concluded before a live audience in Shanghai with the choreographer Gu Jiani.
The urge to move and an obsession-like fascination with the human gesture are what the three women have in common. Immobile for months, stuck at home, the dream of venturing out to move and roam free is a feeling that resonates wherever you are in the world.
For the upcoming season are clothes and accessories made for moving, for dancing — hopefully as a group when the world heals.
I spy new accessories. The Birkin, the ultimate “forever bag,” is even more essential as a 3-in-1: as a bag with a convenient compartment, as a compartment used as a clutch, and as a bag.
A true ergonomic answer to the mini-bag movement is the Hermèsway smartphone case, cut to measure to slip over your phone, AirPods, credit cards, and your Hermès lipstick or lip balm, so you can venture out into the world without the bulk.
We’ve heard all about wearing lipstick as an accessory, typically in the form of a saturated red lip like Hermès Beauty’s Rouge Casaque. In the leather goods metier, it is taken literally with the Kiss Holder, cut to measure with the dimensions of your favorite Hermès lippie.
The play of fabrics and pleats can be dressed up or dressed down. Worn throughout the collection are funnel-neck jumpers that are sheer or in textured fabrics, making the wearer feel sensual and beautiful without actually showing skin.
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Hermès is in Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati.
