Hermès A/W 2014

Menswear designer Véronique Nichanian adopted the role of the Black Widow this season, shaking off the nautical nomad vibe of her Spring offering for Hermès to deliver black as, well, the new black for Winter. The pared-back palette served well to highlight the artisanal finesse of her outerwear experiments, as the designer panelled a varsity jacket in shaved mink or needle-punched a leather lapel onto a fuzzy wool caban coat. With stiff, funnel neck shirting opening the show and elegant knitwear adorned with a spider and it's web, the message was dark and luxurious, grounded on lambskin trousers and accessorised with the boxy fourre-tout weekender bags in deep green or pimento red calfskin.