Hermès S/S 2017

Mood board: There’s something to be said for a show of utterly wearable, totally desirable menswear devoid of any tricky fashionable posturing. The collections at Hermès are just so confident in their craft and elegance that they demand your complete attention. The maison is renown for its luxurious goods and eminent handbags, yes, but the clothes proposed by Véronique Nichanian for the menswear line are without fail, utterly stupefying in their expert finish, unequivocally French in mood. 

Best in show: Spring explored lightness and colour and opened with an undyed, lambskin cardigan. Underneath was a jumper in linen and cashmere mix, worn with narrow trousers in baobab cotton and linen flamed canvas. The looks that followed included a belted, one-piece suit in finely waxed cotton with lambskin pockets, elegant goatskin blousons and nifty shorts in terry-cloth cotton jersey. Standout were the lush tie-dye goatskin blousons in rich indigo or vivid yellow. Worn so nonchalantly to the infectious sounds of All You Need Is Love, you almost wanted to put a down payment on them there and then. 

Finishing touches: When it launched in 1923, the classic Bolide bag was actually the first bag known to incorporate a zipper. Émile-Maurice Hermès had been touring automobile factories in North America when he discovered the fastening on the cloth roof of a car. Fast forward 101 years and the canvas and lime calfskin version shown for S/S 2017 encapsulates Émile-Maurice’s philosophy of leather, sport and the tradition of refined elegance. You don’t get more Hermès than that.