There’s a strange stillness that arrives during the blue hour – that brief window of twilight when the sun has slipped just below the horizon and everything is washed in a cool, inky light. It’s neither day nor quite night. Shapes blur, colours soften, and the world feels momentarily still and suspended. That liminal mood seemed to set the tone for Hermès Autumn Winter 2026, where creative director Nadège Vanhée built a collection around this quiet transitional time. Aptly titled Nocturnal Creatures, the show imagined the wardrobe of women who come alive in those shadowy hours between daylight and darkness.

The setting inside the Garde Républicaine in Paris leaned fully into the concept. Instead of a traditional runway, Vanhée created a winding garden path that snaked through a landscape of moss and soft green undergrowth beneath a deep blue artificial sky. As models including Angelina Kendall and People's Princess Alex Consani stepped out and moved through the twisting maze, the scene felt almost cinematic – like a group of night wanderers heading out on an evening expedition.

Vanhée herself described the collection as an attempt to fuse "poetry with practicality," and that balance defined much of what came down the runway. The clothes were clearly built for movement and protection, as though the wearer might be venturing outdoors after dark. Military-style four-pocket jackets and supple leather coats formed the backbone of the collection, alongside quilted jackets with padded shoulders and coats with fur-trimmed collars that zipped into protective hoods.

Hermès signatures were present too. Jodhpurs – a House staple – appeared alongside salopettes that suggested trekking gear, while black Cossack hats and flat, thigh-high boots gave the silhouettes a sense of purposeful stride. Amid the utilitarian spirit, there was a nostalgic undercurrent of 1960s style. A-line leather miniskirts, zip-front dresses and crisp shirts layered over turtlenecks hinted at the decade’s youthful styling.

And just when the collection seemed fully immersed in night, flashes of brightness appeared. A lemon-yellow shearling jacket and a silk scarf transformed into a cape with a vivid blue fur collar punctured the darkness Pops of colour came through tights in deep green, corn yellow and burgundy, warming up the otherwise nocturnal palette.