Hermès Opens a New Maison in London
Maison Bond Street opens at 166 New Bond Street in London and becomes Hermès’ sixth Maison worldwide, marking a milestone for the house. This store, made up of six buildings comprising nearly 2,000 square metres and featuring more than five hundred specially s elected artworks, celebrates Hermès’ memorable journey in the United Kingdom by showcasing the house’s creativity and know-how through its sixteen métiers across multiple bespoke rooms.
The site’s construction began in 1769, developing into six buildings spreading over five floors. Today, with craftsmanship accentuated throughout its fifty-five rooms, four staircases, three elevators and roof terraces, the house’s fourth address in the city is a Maison that feels like home.
Each room combines unique historic and contemporary elements, offering the possibility to wander through centuries of history within the fabric of the buildings. Visitors can catch glimpses of the original detailing as well as the new ornamentation, colour and décor designed by the Parisian architecture agency RDAI, under the supervision of artistic director Denis Montel.
Upon entering the store via the seven-metre-high façade, visitors are greeted with the signature ex-libris embedded within the Faubourg pattern of the flooring, inviting them into a spacious, welcoming atmosphere. A vaulted ceiling, built to echo the six arches of the store’s windows, takes visitors on a voyage via optical illusion achieved through a game of proportions. The path through the silk universe leads to the atrium, originally an outdoor space, designed by architects Foster + Partners, who added a new steel and glass roof, now raised by one floor, and installed a spiral staircase below. The limestone and glass staircase, whose handmade handrail is finished in calfskin, has also been extended upwards two floors. The once mirrored south wall is now lined in classic Manchester bricks cast in mirrored glass.
The care and attention devoted to the store’s décor is felt in its unique artworks, carefully selected for this address under the supervision of Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Artistic Director of Hermès. Every angle is envisioned as a showcase for the collections, an immersive gateway into the spirit of the décor that is a dialogue between treasured heritage, photographs, illustrations and contemporary designs. This includes a specially commissioned horse sculpture by British artist Jessica Wetherly found within the store’s atrium.
Through the second entrance, the beauty, perfumes and fashion jewellery areas, nested in an imaginary orangerie, feature walls commissioned from London-based illustrator Katie Scott. Leading up to the first floor is a series of twenty intercommunicating rooms, beginning with those in red hues, which are dedicated to the leather goods collections. Panels of patinated copper lead to two private lounges, and then onto the home collections, displayed over five spaces with a hexagonal patterned parquet in oak, reflecting the décors lifted from the listed plaster ceilings above. A full equestrian collection is presented at the centre of this floor in a space finished with boiserie shaped in straw and horsehair marquetry overlooking the atrium. Running the length of the façade are six intimate rooms for watches and jewellery. A bespoke cloth wallcovering evokes sunlight streaming through trees, enhanced by yellow Sienna marble skirting and ceramic-topped tables.
Visitors continue the journey to the second floor, where the women’s shoe area features hand-finished walls and ceilings in powder pink mineral mortar, traditional wood panelling as well as a carpet patterned with a large English floral motif. Original nineteenth-century mosaic floors lead from two private salons to the women’s ready-to-wear area, with walls painted in a progression of pinks and with a series of hand- tufted rugs, all creating a sense of movement. Along the length of the New Bond Street-facing side, the space dedicated to the men’s universe features reclaimed oak floors and geometrical carpeting created to reflect the cherrywood-panelled ceiling, while adorning the walls are Lancashire-made, textured coverings in deep blue, first developed in Victorian times. Further along is a cosy space to pause for tea or coffee and appreciate the view onto the atrium.
On the third floor, Hermès leather artisans are present to uphold the artisanal model of the house, working on objects that are designed to last, to become more beautiful with time, to be repaired and passed on.
Finally, the private fourth floor is entirely dedicated to the Émile Hermès Collection, a space imagined as an evocation of the private collection housed at 24, faubourg Saint-Honoré. On this top level, rooftop lounges lead to two contiguous gardens, along with the Artificier, Hermès’ flag-bearing horseman.
To celebrate the store’s opening, special objects have been designed, including a colourful selection of leather goods and carrés, as well as creations from Ateliers Horizons, jewellery, watches, perfume and the equestrian métier: a set of leather-handled stainless steel gardening tools with a red denim and leather apron, a remarkable A Walk in the Garden tea trunk, a special Hac à Dos backpack with guitar-patterned appliqué, amongst others.
As part of the opening, the windows of 166 New Bond Street will showcase The Rocabarn, an imaginary horse grooming parlour created in crochet, knit and embroidery by English artist Kate Jenkins. Here, whimsical equestrian friends of the house have their hoofs polished and buffed and their manes washed and glossed before being braided and plaited, all whilst grazing on the carrots dangling from the chandelier.
With this opening, the house pursues its long-term development strategy based on its creative, artisanal and sustainable model, as well as its multilocal spirit. Hermès Maison Bond Street is delighted to welcome
loyal customers and new visitors alike to explore this space of boundless creativity and to discover Hermès’ know-how within a joyful atmosphere that resonates with its surroundings.
