{"id":5834,"date":"2025-10-17T10:35:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T08:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=5834"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T13:25:07","slug":"there-is-only-one-way-to-showcase-hermes-luxury-its-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/trend-en\/there-is-only-one-way-to-showcase-hermes-luxury-its-own\/","title":{"rendered":"There is only one way to showcase Herm\u00e8s’ luxury: its own"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French fashion house brought the Herm\u00e8stories show to the Franco Parenti Theatre in Milan to celebrate its almost 190 years of existence. It did so in a way that only it can: by overturning the obsessive-compulsive paradigms of contemporary life. The result? A game of roles between the surreal and the poetic, set in a very, very French atmosphere<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Luca Fumagalli<\/p>\n

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Do not trust the title of this article. Or rather, do not trust its obvious tautology. Do not do so because we are talking about Herm\u00e8s, which, with the theatre project staged in Milan last September, has once again decided to reaffirm the most obvious dimension of its identity. That, \u00e7a va sans dire, is to make its own history, <\/strong>without chasing anything or anyone, giving time to time. Above all, in terms of communication methods, by overturning the obsessive-compulsive paradigms of contemporary life. All this is the Herm\u00e8stories project, <\/strong>presented at the Franco Parenti Theatre <\/strong>in Milan from 11 to 21 September 2025.<\/p>\n

Staging the luxury of Herm\u00e8s<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We were there <\/strong>and witnessed a show that we can well understand, which left some people disappointed or dissatisfied. Unlike most of the audience who \u2013 free of charge, it should be noted \u2013 flocked to every performance, allowing themselves to be seduced by a totally analogue narrative model<\/strong>. Apart from the decision \u2013 functional to the immersion in the sound world of Herm\u00e8s \u2013 to equip each person sitting in the audience with a pair of headphones, there were no special effects. It was all ‘artisan intelligence’, a definition that we do not even feel the need to explain. What does need explaining, however, is why we wrote ‘sound world<\/strong>‘. Here it is: the set design and the acting of the two actresses would make little sense without director Pauline Bayle’s decision to reserve a space on stage for ‘Monsieur Bruit’<\/strong>, a sound effects artist<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Disrupting the obsessive-compulsive paradigms of contemporary life<\/strong><\/h3>\n

He is the one who, live, gives sound and voice <\/strong>to instruments, materials and work objects from the maison’s ateliers, producing surprising acoustic effects (enhanced by listening through headphones). Objects that, as Pierre-Alexis Dumas, <\/strong>artistic director of Herm\u00e8s, explains, are ‘witnesses to a long history of patience, <\/strong>inspiration and precise gestures, intertwined with happy encounters and curious anecdotes. They tell the story of a family maison and the people who make it up, from artisans to boutique staff, not forgetting customers. They represent the lively and daring side of creation, always careful to reinvent itself without ever repeating itself’. After all, ‘creation without memory does not exist’, as Jean-Louis Dumas often said: Herm\u00e8stories is its joyful staging’.<\/p>\n

The story of Lad<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This action takes place in the boutique that has been the heart of Herm\u00e8s since 1880. The one on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honor\u00e9<\/strong>, which is still the maison’s headquarters today. Herm\u00e8stories tells the story of a squire named Lad<\/strong>. In other words, ‘the iconic equestrian figure of Herm\u00e8s, played by a young woman. The character embodies the liveliness, modernity and heritage of the fashion house founded in 1837, according to a press release. Herm\u00e8stories is also the tale of a narrator and the characters Lad meets at the historic Parisian address on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor\u00e9 as she wanders aimlessly on a late afternoon. Together, they outline the contours of an enchanting world that materialises on stage<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The moral of the story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What we witnessed was a sort of fashion fairy tale. Told with a lightness that was at times happily alienating<\/strong>, reminiscent of the atmosphere of the film \u201cIl favoloso mondo di Am\u00e9lie\u201d. At other times, we found ourselves in the dreamlike vision <\/strong>of Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s. At all times, however, we were certain that Herm\u00e8s had ‘conjugated its present in every tense’, as the fashion house explains in the programme. ‘The characters dance in an endless present<\/strong>‘ in ‘a bold dialogue with time<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n

A conversation that continues in the theatre foyer, visiting a museum-like exhibition that houses all the objects featured on stage. ‘This adventure,’ concludes Herm\u00e8s, ‘would not have been possible without the artisanal savoir-faire <\/strong>that brings the creations to life. From leather goods, with the timeless Kelly and Birkin bags, to silk, with brightly coloured scarves reminiscent of jockeys’ uniforms at horse races. All the diversity of <\/strong>the maison’s 16 m\u00e9tiers <\/strong>is represented here.” The moral of the story: chapeau.<\/p>\n

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