Design in Focus – Hermès at Salone de Mobile

At the recent edition of Salone del Mobile in Milan, Hermès presented ‘The Topography of Material’ – an exhibition celebrating craft, materiality and the French luxury house’s powerful lineage. Conceived by Hermès Maison artistic directors Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry and located in the heart of the Brera district at La Pelota, Hermès’ regular outpost during the annual design event, the multi-faceted installation was immersive and conceptually layered.

Upon visiting the exhibition, first impressions revealed a dark and cavernous space – a stark contrast against the bright Milanese sunshine and bustling cobbled streets. As visitors’ eyes adjusted, closer inspection divulged an expansive floorcovering in earthen tones. Stamped with a black walkway in the shape of an ‘X’ evocative of a jockey’s silk jersey, the composition of raw materials included half-moon pavers, piles of sand-coloured rubble, terracotta bricks in geometric formations, slate splayed in criss-crossing stacks and compacted earth arranged in lines – one colour bleeding ever so slightly into the next.

Upon visiting the exhibition, first impressions revealed a dark and cavernous space – a stark contrast against the bright Milanese sunshine and bustling cobbled streets.

Sourced from Italian suppliers and conceived to celebrate ancient local crafts, these raw materials – which have since been returned to their origins and recycled – reference Hermès’ time- worn methods of transforming raw leather and cashmere into beautifully made garments and goods. What’s more, the jersey motif is an important symbol of the maison’s equine heritage.

A narrow slit running the length of the rear partition revealed slithers of familiar yet barely discernible tropes – part of a chair leg and the tip of a coloured leather basket – in the next room, inciting curiosity and alluding to something more. Here, a long table presented archival pieces from the Hermès Conservatoire des Créations alongside new collections, highlighting the house’s longstanding tenets as conduits of time.

A narrow slit running the length of the rear partition revealed slithers of familiar yet barely discernible tropes – part of a chair leg and the tip of a coloured leather basket – in the next room, inciting curiosity and alluding to something more.

A pair of embroidered goatskin gloves from the 1950s was presented in tandem with the new elm wood Amalthée Myriade watch and jewellery box; its hand-painted motifs mirroring the gloves’ leatherwork and detail. Further along, the Tressages équestres porcelain dinner set by Virginie Jamin – the design of which depicts the passementerie and braiding of horse harnesses – sat alongside an original 1950s horse strap in fine cotton rope. The Diapason d’Hermès lounge chair with a hammered aluminium frame and unlined bridle leather slings was particularly memorable, as were the Voltige d’Hermès lamps with two-tone braided leather stems and linen lampshades.

Other pieces from the archives, such as a leather cigarette holder, an elegant riding boot and a hammered silver necklace, brought gravitas to the ideas being presented. Perhaps most evident, though, was Hermès’ overt embrace of its rich cultural heritage – a refreshing takeaway in a sea of newness and a reminder of the value in roots informing ingenuity.