Pierre Hardy was supposed to be a professional dancer. But when choosing an alternative path that led him to become creative director of shoes and fine jewelry for Hermès, he believes he can achieve many of the same goals. “What I did with dance and what I am doing now is helping people play with their own bodies and give them the accessories to create what they want for themselves,” he said. “A better image, in a way. Be yourself, but better”.
If the vision of self-improvement through fashion sounds like a very American sentiment, judge it according to the designer’s sensibilities. While Hardy is a native Parisian, he has enjoyed a romance with New York for a long time, dividing his time between the two. He sings the praises of his former residence in Chelsea, located in the heart of the gallery. “When I was there just crawling around five blocks, for two hours, I could watch the most unbelievable performance of modern art,” he said. Work is underway on a new home in New York for Hardy, but if he gets his way, he’ll live in the Brutalist building at 75 and Madison, which was formerly the Met Breuer museum. “I think that’s perfection,” he said.
Foundation, Hermès, $1,425.
Hermès has also been in the city for a long time, dating back to its first outpost in New York in 1929. This fall, the brand will open a newly designed flagship store on Madison Avenue that serves as a reimagine. presence in the US and act as a hub of sorts. It will reunite men’s and women’s collections in a single location, located in what was once the Bank of New York Mellon. The locomotive will highlight the joys that can only be found in in-person shopping (and socializing: You’ll find a champagne bar, a rooftop garden, and a coffee bar).
“Sounds weird [to say] about such a large store, but the intimacy,” Hardy said of what he thinks the flagship can give customers feels like a transitional time in the retail industry. “Being treated 1-1 and being in surroundings makes [people feel] freedom of choice, take their time, comfort and feel secure that they can stay as long as they want…. After two years of buying and ordering online, people are happy to be alive back and have this shopping experience. “
My job is to create new classics, new shapes and renew the look of Hermès. “
Among the treasures on display will be Hardy-designed shoes from the fall 2022 collection, including embroidered cowboy boots and plush slides. He’s been working for the house since the ’90s, a job born out of his knack for drawing. “Everything comes from sketching, because that’s what I have to do. I wasn’t meant to be a shoe designer or a fashion designer. I was just lucky to be gifted, and I could draw whatever I wanted as a child,” he recounts. “It’s really the only thing I really enjoy.”
As an adult, he was asked to do some accessory illustrations for a magazine, which led to a design opportunity at Dior. “Someone said, ‘You can draw a shoe. Why don’t you turn it into a product? ‘ I said, ‘Yes, why not?’ Incidentally, that’s suddenly my job, and I’m designing a shoe collection. Since 1999, Hardy has split his talents between Hermès and his eponymous shoe line — bold, vibrant sandals and sneakers with their own distinct aesthetic. When he started designing, he said, “I know which specific sketches will be for Hermès and which ones will be for my own collection. It’s like having a split screen, but they’re working at the same time.”
When Hardy joined the company, he had a century and a half of family history to draw upon. He compares his approach to “when an actor today is in a Shakespeare play. The text is from the Renaissance, but the guy is living now. ” While he has learned a lot about the Hermès legacy, “I try to forget about it as much as possible and not put too much emphasis on archiving. [inspiration], because it can be a string. It could be a prison. I think my job is to create new classics, new shapes and renew the look of Hermès,” he explains. That approach has helped him devise contemporary classics like the sophisticated Oran sandal, which he introduced in 1997, and the Quick sneaker, a luxury fashion house’s first all-leather sneaker important. His influence has even spread to the beauty industry, through the graphic packaging he designed for Rouge Hermès, the fashion house’s first lipstick line.
The interior of the former Met Breuer, a Hardy lover has brutally structured what the designer calls “perfection”.
Those songs eventually became a hit, despite coming out at the start of the pandemic. Hardy said: “Everybody is hidden behind a mask. “We immediately thought, ‘Oh no,’ but no, it’s even better. Some things are hard to explain, but I think a big part of the reason [for the success] is the incredible trust people have in this brand. That confidence, he said, was evident in the way Hermès sales increased during the closing period. “People can’t move, but they want new shoes and new things. It could be because of this brand [associated] with true quality and sophistication and luxury. I think that gives some reassurance. People are absolutely sure they don’t make a mistake, even if they buy it online or don’t try it on or don’t go into the store.”
In keeping with the home’s fresh new presence in New York, Hardy used the fall collection to bring a solid American twist to the Hermès style. “I have some American friends, and they wear clogs on weekends. I’ve always loved it,” he said. “Of course we did [ours] very clean, very minimalistic. His time on the streets of Manhattan helped him develop a sense of the difference between American and French styles. “American girls pay more attention. I think French girls are like, ‘Oh, who cares? I’m fine.’ An attitude like that,” he said. “In New York, when they decide to get dressed, they will wear clothes. I love it.”
This article appears in the September 2022 issue of ELLE.
Adrienne Gaffney is an editorial associate at ELLE, who previously worked at WSJ . Magazine and Vanity Fair.
