There’s been “normal” which is trendy, “normal” which is satirical, “normal” which is just banal. But here at Hermès, we have reached a whole other layer of the non-fashion stratosphere: “normal” which is sublime. Veronique Nichanian’s view of the proper order of things when a man gets dressed for summer is superbly and sanely balanced. Show a layperson a photograph of look nine in her Spring show and he or she would perceive a nice, likeably regular pair of chinos and a round-necked sweater with a belt. Show it to a fashion expert and he or she will likely fall back in ecstasy at the sight of the immaculate proportions, the slightly wider-cut leg, the hint of workwear stitching, the fit of the top, the torso-slimming illusion of the white stripes which taper in from shoulder to waistband. Both would be right. That’s the beauty of a true designer who understands the incremental changes which make fashion intelligible and desirable to both insiders and those men who have great taste but balk at “fashion.”
Nichanian described the feeling of the season as “sophisticated letting go,” and that articulated just the civilized exactitude she applies to every detail. In this day and age of strife, it is crass to want to appear too rich. Whilst—heaven knows—such things as the suede bombers and crocodile jackets are amongst some of the costliest items a man may buy, the wealth-signalling in this collection was somehow not its primary point.
What you felt, watching this, was that a young guy would totally get it—what with all the cool, shiny technical sports tops and track pants—but it would not exclude other generations of men, either. That is a rare skill. A man of any age or profession could feel well-dressed and relaxed in one of Nichinian’s papery cotton suits, and know—thanks to her and Pierre Hardy—that exactly the right thing to wear with them could be a pair of plain monk sandals or trainers. Special, but normal, and very, very French. Bravo.
