The Hermès men’s showing for Fall 2025 was about quiet luxury. As in, whisper-quiet luxury. Held the hypostyle room of Palais d’iéna, a building realised by architect Auguste Perret, models coursed between columns, dressed in clothing that designer Véronique Nichanian explained drew colour inspiration from the jockey silks worn in horse racing. 

The first look was an oversized car coat with a turtleneck layered under a half-zip over shirt, worn back with narrow pants and platform lug-soled brogues. The following looks surveyed variations of workwear and casual outerwear. Of note was a bomber jacket in Kobicha brown and a long fisherman’s mac in a shiny Marengo patent blue leather worn over an ecru turtleneck. Another anorak version was styled over a slim double-breasted suit with a shirt and tie. A leather flight jacket in the same shade of Marengo then appeared, this time in a matte leather finish, with a black padded fur trim on the collar. 

The look with the flight jacket was styled with a snood, as were many looks in the show. There was then a lot more leather: in the form of slim and straight leg pants, jackets—both short and long—with diagonal zips, buckles, and other biker-esque finishes. The biker note is fitting given that Hermès was founded in 1837 as a harness workshop in Paris, the horse being so deeply ingrained in the house’s design language that at this point in time it cannot be avoided. A great diversion by way of a darker tonal palette was a motorcycle jacket that was punctuated in its Minium red. This look launched us into a section that showcased woven, water-repellent outerwear and knitwear.

The outerwear in question included a mackintosh and field jacket with a popped collar and removable horse blanket linings in wheat and umber with leather cuff straps, chin and storm flaps. The knitwear style comprised turtlenecks, half-zip pullovers, and vests in a range of greens, from olive and pine needle through to charcoal, ash grey and taupe. These seemed to be site-responsive as their patterns were formed using intarsia and plating techniques that took on the appearance of the Palais d’iéna’s interior architecture.

Given that the show was about racing silks, models were poised, head down and up for the venturousness of skiing ‘schuss’ style down a mountain or taking double-apex corners at maximum horsepower. Even the slim-cut suits had more fleetness than anything on Fleet Street. Nichanian spoke of the “need to bring some energy again and some sweetness and happiness in our clothes.” She has certainly delivered on that.