Inside the new London home of Hermès
From saddlery to gloves, homeware to beauty, Hermès’ 16 métiers are united at a new London address
In London, 16 New Bond Street is now home to Hermès. The sprawling site is made up of six Grade II listed properties, most dated to the 1770s, covering nearly 2,000 square metres. Realised with RDAI, a Parisian architecture agency, the firm’s new UK flagship is fully interconnected; its features include a freshly extended central spiral staircase designed by Norman Foster, a Victorian lift and terraced gardens.
Creations drawn from Hermès’ 16 métiers, or craft divisions, which range from tableware to belts, are on display in dedicated areas: flacons of in-house perfumer Christine Nagel’s Twilly scent can be found in a beauty space wallpapered with a bespoke floral design by London-based artist Katie Scott, while the walls of the equestrian department are clad in marquetry of straw and horsehair.
There are artworks throughout: roughly 50 pieces, many drawn from the collection of house founder Émile Hermès and his great-grandsons: Axel Dumas (CEO since 2013) and his cousin, the maison’s artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas, each of whom have been pivotal in the shaping of 16 New Bond Street.
In addition to silks, pieces from Nadège Vanhée’s womenswear collection and Hermès footwear authored by Pierre Hardy, other 16 New Bond Street ‘finds’ include a new framing of the Bolide bag. The dome-shaped bag was originally introduced in 1923, when it made fashion history as the first bag to be fitted with a metal zip closure. This year, a new interpretation is suitably industrial in inspiration: the bag can be worn on the shoulder, courtesy of an interwoven jewel chain assembled by hand from 23 metal links adorned with golden nail heads.
GOOD TO KNOW
Hermès has had a foothold in London since 1961 when it opened its first boutique in Piccadilly Arcade. Further London addresses followed, from Sloane Street (opened in 1987) to The Royal Exchange, a 2011 addition of bijoux dimensions. With the opening of 16 New Bond Street, London is now the location of both the smallest and the largest Hermès boutiques worldwide.
