On the eve of her winter 2025 men’s collection runway at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, Véronique Nichanian exudes the kind of calm one might expect of an Artistic Director who has creatively led the Hermès Men’s universe for 36 years. Unmoved by whispers of typhoon warnings, Nichanian moves effortlessly through Kowloon’s art deco Rosewood Hotel looking casual in white jeans, a black blouse and a suntan that points to a recent August holiday – rejoicing in being back in the city she first visited 40 years ago.
“The city here has a lot of energy and an extraordinary architecture; and I believe it is the architecture that shapes the people who live here. When I first came to Hong Kong it was very different, so ‘old China’ and so different from France and the rest of the world. I think I visited every ten years or so and over those visits I saw so many changes. But now what I see today is that the energy is the constant, there is always such a lot of energy to express their artistic sense and the people are so involved with that.”
For her, the staging at Kai Tak – Hong Kong’s original airport since the 1920s, renowned for its challenging approach where pilots navigated between mountains and high-rise buildings – is symbolic. “It was thanks to the small airport that Hong Kong’s economy started,” she says, glancing over the bay at the glistening show space. “It was a very small efficient village and then it, literally, took off.”
Of course, Nichanian, who joined Hermès when Thierry Hermès’ great-great-grandson Jean-Louis Dumas began his reinvention of the brand in the late 80s, knows first-hand what it is like to write a story from the very beginning, having built the menswear direction from the outset. She is driven by the multiple expressions we have in real life and how they manifest in the wardrobe of the man of today.
“Each season I look to reinvent the things I wanted to express for the men’s collection. It's like a book season after season, I’m writing the same book; one chapter after one chapter. That's why I like when a man mixes the old collection with new collection. I don’t like fashion that is for fashion’s sake and Hermès is the perfect answer to that because we slow down time. We like to do take the time to do things with our soul, with our love, our head. It is so important during these crazy times. We need to find the balance between nature and artificial intelligence. We need something to make us calm and soft and sweet and giving. We need sensuality and love. And that’s the objective of my clothes for Hermès, to bring that to people. And I also think that’s what people love so much about Hermès – that we bring a humanity, and understanding that we all need time to slow down a little bit.”
For this Hong Kong edit of her winter 2025 collection, Nichanian leant into her distinct design signature of embracing lines and architecture. Taking on the thematic motif of the casaque, she celebrated the duality of the oblique forms in the collection: a dialogue of seen and unseen – along with the playful spirit of the casaque, the traditional horse racing silks integral to the house’s history. Juxtapositions emerged as the softness of the fabrics engaged with the angularity of the patterns, urbane and graphic, shaping the silhouette through a sharp, architected vision. Beams of light mirrored the angles of the Kai Tak columns, zig-zagging across the runway as the casaque stretched across the space. Coffee, slate and charcoal grey collided with blood orange, celadon blue and vanilla, creating a playground of contrasts.
When asked why architecture is so important to each presentation and where she chooses to present them, she laughs. “I do love the lines! If I wasn’t an artistic director, I’d be an architect. I enjoy the multiple expressions and the opportunity to create something unexpected. It’s so exciting to design with the Hermès possibility: using the roots of the craftsmanship and mixing with a new perception of innovation and new fabrics – it’s very important. I like the oxymoron of sophisticated and simple.”
This collection creates contrast and surprise with pops of blood orange, celadon blue and vanilla. Known for her use of ‘fifty shades’ of brown, Nichanian believes in the transformational power of colour and finds it surprising that many men’s collections use it so sparingly. “The way I work is different to many others as they start with construction or have a silhouette whereas for me I start with the colours. I start with the colour and then look for fabrics that bring out those colours best and then I move to designing the forms and the shape and silhouette,” she says. “I look for contrast and through that I create something unexpected.”
On Friday evening, that sense of contrast extended to the runway itself – velvet crushed underfoot, rubberised calfskin caught the light, and blanket-finished parkas offered warmth against the cool industrial lines of the cruise terminal. The sketch of a new equestrian geometry unfolded as Hong Kong personalities joined models weaving between beams of concrete and columns of light. Cities collided: warm shades against cold concrete, soft fabrics against angular cuts. The casaque became a game – a secret language stretching across the floor, hinting at speakeasy whispers and secret spaces.
The soundtrack traversed tracks by Gap Dream, King Hannah and Tim Paris, while the models included a mix of local musicians, a fencer and even local executives. “I took people from Hong Kong to see the reality of the clothes on real men,” she says. “I like the audience to be able to recognise them. Life is short. Let’s have fun.”
