Ah, the delectable sensation of sampling a mouthwatering ice cream on a hot summer’s day. A creamy pistachio, a palette-cleansing lemon, a zingy raspberry. Hermès, too, has a particular fondness for sorbet and ice cream. On the evening of Thursday 3 February 2022, the French maison made a pitstop in London’s Clerkenwell, serving up ‘Gelato!’, a delicious evening of entertainment, dedicated to the delectable summer-time snack.
On its mouthwatering menu? A multi-layered melange in celebration of artistic director Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski’s S/S 2022 womenswear collection, where guests were treated to custom ice cream and sorbet flavours at a downstairs galeteria. Think bergamot, rhubarb and chocolate, and citrus, plus Sgroppino cocktails hand-whisked with prosecco, rum, lime and Campari. There was even a theatrical performance, with a set and costumes that evoked the tones in Hermès’ spring offering, such as hazel, acid orange and almond green.
Hermès Gelato! we all scream for ice cream
Hermès enlisted set designer Jabez Bartlett to bring its ice cream-inspired location to life, and he whipped up a dreamlike world inside the rooms of Old Sessions House, swathed with cloud-shaped mirrors, candy-striped fixtures, and juicy pastille-like plinths.
The heart of the space featured a conceptual theatre set, with a cheering cyclorama constructed from undulating circular layers in powdery pinks and sunburst yellows. Here, guests were treated to a production conceived by British performance, sound and video artist Georgina Starr, which was eccentric, uplifting and exuberant in equal measure. Think models, musicians and movement artists performing mesmerically with percussion instruments, dancing with abandon and whirling circular discs above their heads, all while sporting S/S 2022 Hermès designs. The word they all shouted with delight? ‘Gelato!’
There was a soupçon of Dadaist theatre to the performance, which also had an uplifting naivety, likened to a production by the Bright Young Things.
Fancy recreating a touch of the Hermès Gelato! event in your own home? We recommend whipping up the maison’s uplifting Marcona Almond Affogato, a sumptuous blend of white almond sorbet, iced vodka and espresso. §
