Hermès FALL 2022 MENS

Perhaps “every major retailer” won’t be flocking to fill their stores with the latest offerings from Hermès especially because it’s not “collectible (yet doesn’t ever lose its value value)” but is WEARABLE ... if you can afford it!

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Some I’m sure will say the collection is a yawn but I found it to be relaxed true to its DNA and that some of the underpinnings might have been quite “fashionable” and not necessarily a la Hermès... in a good way!

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The collection was knit and outerwear dense with some wonderful sweaters and lots of outerwear for those who actually buy clothes to wear and not stare at or be stared at when wearing. Whether or not you recognize the Swedish army officers coat of the 70s translated into the Hermès vocabulary is inconsequential as those pieces are quite refreshing in a way. The silhouette is relaxed, unpretentious, neat and of course classic and timeless.

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It wouldn’t be Hermès unless there were a few incredible croco pieces and this season did not fail to disappoint... after all which would you want...  a varsity/bomber from Hermès or the same style from Vuitton in red... with or without the bee keeper’s baseball cap that is sure to only increase in value on eBay?

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So, the question is, point blankly, do you want clothes to stare at or to be stared at when wearing or simply clothes to wear!

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Hermès spring men’s 2022

Even though the term sprezzatura is Italian terminology describing a sort of uncontrived way of men dressing, Veronique Nichanian proves it lives in her heart and certainly shows in her Spring collection for men. With very few missteps and not bending to the absurdity that has been weeping the men’s shows Hermès rises to nearly the top of the hierarchy of men’s fashion standing tall behind Mr. Armani.

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You might say it’s a bit like Cuccinelli or several others who have not fallen into the trend trap but at Hermès you are getting the supplest skins, fabric combinations and wonderful easy knits that have come to be shown this season BUT without a doubt this is collection jacket heaven. I almost forgot to mention she snuck in a print which was refreshing, to say the least, and paying homage to the brand’s DNA.

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I’m not saying I’d mind that epauletted camel suede tunic or a few pairs of those slouchy pants with rope belts or those dip dyed sweaters but jackets take a starring role ...oh did I forget that sueded croco dyed in pale turq, camel or possibly it’s washed denim but I do take offense to those bois de rose color and that one tee shirt that looked literally like some shredded rag.

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Ageless, classic, chic, soigné, unpretentious wearable clothes for men who can afford them and for young men to aspire to... oh the word aspire!

Hermès FALL MENS 2020

Véronique Nichanian alternately breathes life into this heritage and occasionally knocks the wind out of it but for fall 2020 she invigorates this coveted and heritage brand. LET’S CALL IT WHAT IT IS ... NO ONE is coming to Hermès for the latest and the greatest in fashion; they come to Hermès for the finest of material and workmanship and hopefully a dash of low-key fashion. Might I add that they come for the comfort and confidence in knowing they wear some of fashion’s most expensive yet low key creations.

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Unlike Cuccinelli who essays to be the quintessential low key appearance of sprezzatura fashion as well as the “don’t look at me but I spent $3000 to look so casual,” Hermès can be spotted by discerning eyes by its exquisite workmanship, materials, excecution and in the case of this season a healthy dash of grown up fashion.

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Some beautiful knits, the perfect tie neck shirts, the paneled coats, and jackets, the metallic ciré which you know is lined in cashmere, the spliced necklines and a couple of the slickest sharpest black suits seen on the runways.  The prints are out of the ordinary for the brand but again, they are discreet yet new and one could say directional but Hermès is hardly a brand known for trend addiction.

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Each season tells a different story and there are some where Nichanian crosses the line by trying to make Hermès far more fashion oriented than it needs to be or should be but this season she hit all the right notes for one of the very few stand-alone luxury brands

Hermès et Balmain men's spring 18

The yin and yang ….  The Spartan minimalist versus the designer from the more is better school of design.

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There comes a time when being low key rich and being overtly embarrassingly rich become unlikely competitors in a market aimed at so called fashionable men…and the word men  is used very loosely here in some cases.

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Rousteing obviously never got the memo about loose more relaxed pants when in fact some of his were so tight you might have been able to discern a model’s religion which is to say that this style aspect narrows the audience considerably. Balmain is all about the jacket and leathers ….  and by that I do not mean the tailored jacket as we know it but the over the top, balls out, look at me, everything but the kitchen sink jacket and the same goes about his leather treatments! The heavy chain bordering many jackets is an allusion the way that Chanel once weighted her jackets around the hem on the interior of her cardigan jackets. The oversized specs worn by some of the pretty boys might been an allusion to YSL, of the Yves variety and then there were the Breton/mariner stripes which were translated into grey and black done with  beads and sequins … which by the way were pretty amazing. The point is that other than the late Michael Jackson,  who might have given up little boys in exchange for closets full of these jackets,  where and who is wearing these clothes let alone who can afford them since the jackets run into the 5 figures. The workmanship is sublime, the message is clear but when one of the supposed great fashion arbiters/editrix of our times can only remark about the music after the show …. Well need I say more?

 

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Now, we move to the polar opposite where Veronique Nichanian has decided that the Hermès man needs to blend in to the point of mediocrity despite the wildly luxe materials and the over the top prices. I understand that Hermès has never been about look at me fashion and much more about being well dressed in clothes made of the finest materials and manufactured with the highest standards of craftsmanship. This season’s incarnation brings the brand to a democratization and homogenization that crosses into the banal and pedestrian while bowing to trends in an almost absurdly  slavish and needless way. I mean really girl, glossy drawstring track pants, and a preponderance of trainers on the feet with all sorts of silly oversized windbreakers/outerwear paired with almost clownishly full legged puddling pants? Me thinks Veronique either needs to rethink this direction or say it’s time for me to go. Aside from a few screamingly stratospherically expensive jackets and tops... what happen to the urbane polish that was part and parcel of the brand? Who of this income bracket is aspiring to look like one of the crowd or like a kid albeit in the most costly of ways? Hermès has never been and my guess is will never be about a “youthquake” so why debase the brand and yourself into thinking you can make that happen? One more time you need to ask yourself why fix what’s not broken?

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Hermès & Balmain fall 2017 men’s

In an ocean of clothes, in a sea of me too looks, in a time when fashion is blurred and at a time when fashion needs a dose of reality there is Hermès. Don’t get me wrong, it may look like clothes that anyone can wear  and some will say it is just more boring than imaginative but these are clothes that appeal to the most discerning, the most affluent and to only those who understand why these are the clothes of timeless elegance and understatement. IMAGINE that … understated. So no, these wont set the world afire nor will they race the hearts of the fawning media and worldwide fashion victims but they are covetous, exquisite and a silent signal that their wearer knows a thing or two about clothes and oh yeah he is unmistakably RICH! Ms. Nichanian really could have done without the fanny packs and the dropped crotch sloppy pants as they just look absurd when placed in context of the collection but let’s talk about the croc inset bomber or the shearling cable sweaters or for that matter almost any leather piece and how about the grey flannel mega-Birkin!

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So now, if Hermès is the silent signal of chic and understatement, then Balmain is the lit on fire billboard in Times Square for look at me clothes.  It is just a cacophony of pattern, color and clothes just piled on as if people wear them like that. Rousteing is clearly from the more is better school of fashion. The problem is that anyone who actually does wear them as shown is either a celebrity who got them for free or the ultimate fashion victim with lots of money to burn. Rousteing has a talent and maybe even a lot of it but frankly, this is getting boring no matter how over the top the presentations may be. Sadly I keep thinking these are clothes for H&M and not top tier retailers. It also occurs to me that he has played this androgyny card to the point where a lot of it might be considered drag rather than asexual and costume rather than wardrobe. The Chanel cardigans, the kimono wrap jackets and cascading collars on sweaters and even shearlings are aesthetically pleasing but please tell me who is buying them and where these clothes are being worn. This is not street wear, they are not club clothes and they surely are not clothes for the office.

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In the end we all know who the Hermès customer is or aspires to be but who exactly can afford thousands if not 10s of thousands to own Balmain’s collection of “aren’t I fabulous” fashion? Let’s just say that if Balmain continues with this over the top excess recipe, their growth potential is hardly exponential! Oopsy I made a funny!

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