The fashion presentation of Hermès Menswear Fall/Winter 2020 in Paris It was a typically elegant compilation of tailored clothing and outerwear.
There was an unusual prelude to the show, which took place at France’s Mobilier National complex, the warehouse for state-owned furniture and a historic training center for artisans: Chanting, antiprivatization, anti-Président Emmanuel Macron protesters blocked the entrance and tried to force their way past the black iron gates into the courtyard of the building.
Police armed with batons kept those gate-crashers at bay, but the protest delayed the show, and some guests, including Bob Chavez, president, and chief executive officer of Hermès Americas, never even made it in.
Inside, it was a different story, with waiters toting silver trays of Champagne and guests settling into their leather-covered seats to see what Véronique Nichanian had in store: Her collection was a typically elegant compilation of tailored clothing and outerwear, with flashes of the house’s signature leather.
Looks swung from the sharply tailored, as in suits with trompe l’oeil double-breasted jackets, and coats with extra leather panels at the front, to the softer and unstructured, such as in long hooded shearlings and buttery soft bombers.
Nichanian also sent out quilted suits with an East Asian mood and cozied up the grandpa chic trend that’s proving popular in Milan and Paris.
What a relief for the Hermès man to know that after a day spent elbowing past strike lines, he can slip on a gray turtleneck, or cardigan with bright color blocks, and unwind just like grand-père used to do.
