Renewal and Release At The End Of An Era
Review of Hermès Fall 2026 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
The penultimate day of Paris fashion week mens was set aside for the industry to bid farewell to Véronique Nichanian, who announced last October that she was to step down as artistic director of Hermès after 37 years with the House.
The announcement of her departure marked the end of a significant era for the House and the industry-at-large. As the age of artistic or creative directors staying the course and spending the majority of their career with any one brand has come to an end.
Opening her show with a set of screens chronicling her nearly four decade run, the collection was Nichanian through-and-through. Eliciting a well-deserved prolonged standing ovation from the crowd in attendance, who spilled onto the runway to wish her well in her next chapter.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
A legacy Secured
Just 3 years short of her fourth decade as artistic director, Nichanian spoke to the increasing demands of the role as one of the catalysts behind her reason to step away, and that she was afforded the grace to leave on her own terms at a time of her choosing. A luxury many of her peers may not be afforded as the recent churn of designers exiting and occupying the top positions at Gucci, Dior, Balenciaga, Loewe and Bottega Veneta can attest to.
After nearly 40 years Véronique Nichanian will have inevitably seen it all, especially when designing for a house whose purpose is not to covet trends but focus on how each individual garment selected for a collection becomes a meaningful addition to the customers wardrobe. Building longevity into each season she knows a thing or two about cyclical fashion. It will be inevitable that she will have designed it all too, and with the industry shifting gears to remove the human-touch from the design process (i.e. A.I.), there will have been nothing left for her to prove and everything to gain in knowing when to say enough.
Under her creative tenure the house built a deserved reputation for unfussy menswear which still had a point-of-view. Clean silhouettes would form the foundation for the designer to stretch the possibilities of what could be achieved when constantly seeking to innovate with materials including leather, silk, and nylon. Some seasons had a light-hearted take (spring 2023 featured graphic seahorses and wipe-clean windbreakers in fruity pastel shades), and others were technically-driven (canvas was coated in varying degrees to adapt for both outerwear and tailoring, while crocodile leather made for the most indulgent of T-shirts for spring 2013). This season as her last she pulled no punches by ramping up the atelier’s dedication to the finest fabrics to satisfy even the most discerning customer. One who will already have placed their pre-orders with their personal shoppers so they can say they own a piece of Hermès history. The most in-demand will likely be the crocodile tailored suit or the shearling jacket with coral-coloured interior.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
In this final collection – with nothing to prove – there was no holding back, even at the point of departure. Nichanian designed a collection that could stand alongside any other in her 37 years, with clothes (for the HNWI customer they cater to) still offering the most desirable lifestyle options.
In her retirement the industry is losing what feels like another link to fashions greatest era(s?), as someone who has weathered many storms and top-level changes, she has also endured, and continued to innovate. She leaves the stage with a thriving, fully- functioning menswear arm for the house and now all we can do is wait – for both the former artistic directors’ next move and the exciting prospect of Grace Wales Bonner at the helm.
