MANIFESTO

#63

CHANGE OF SPACE

The topography of matter

2024.04.17

Text by Francesca Fontanesi

Playing on the ambiguity between what is past and what is present, the Hermès object has no age, transcends time. On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2024, the absolute concept of heritage and tradition is translated into the spaces of La Pelota.

La Pelota, via Palermo 10, Milan
April 16, 2024 – April 21, 2024

 

 

 

The Hermès home collections invite to extract oneself from time and create a dialogue between roots and movement, between materials and savoir-faire. On the occasion of Milano Design Week 2024, the maison presents its new collections along with objects from its heritage. Playing on temporal ambiguity, this pairing demonstrates that Hermès objects are not influenced by time and trends. Following a path on the theme of earth, evoking rooting with the world, the eye is drawn to a composition of raw materials – bricks, stone, slate, wood, and compacted earth – depicting a knight’s silk mesh. A powerful symbol of the house’s cultural heritage, the equestrian jacket with colorful geometric patterns inspires leather goods and fabrics. Containers, baskets, and leather centerpieces are crafted by expert saddle artisans. Craftsmanship virtuosity is also revealed in blankets with subtle shaded tones and in large cashmere bedspreads enriched with woven, dyed, or quilted and embroidered graphic lines. The line of the new Diapason d’Hermès armchair in leather and hammered aluminum is radical and elegant. The ethereal lamps inspired by equestrian vaulting and the delicate traits of the Tressages équestres table service are a manifesto of lightness and sophistication. A confirmation of Hermès’ spirit, uniting craftsmanship and excellence.

The Hippique bedspread is graphic, geometric, hypnotic. Designed by Studio Hermès based on a design by Jochen Gerner, this bedspread reveals a succession of flags with typical motifs of jockey jackets, made in colorful appliqués expressing the variety of existing equestrian motifs. Made of silk twill and cotton with tone-on-tone stitching and lined in cashmere, this unprecedented-sized item is also emblematic of a unique sartorial savoir-faire. But there’s also the Diapason d’Hermès armchair, also designed by Studio Hermès: this armchair directly inspired by modernist heritage perfectly combines material contrast and formal design power. Its architectural style is forged from two pieces of leather, forming the seat and backrest, mounted on a hammered aluminum structure now echoed by the Voltige d’Hermès lamps: this new line of lamps imposes its equestrian language with a thin stem in two-tone braided leather. Discreet and unique, it plays with textures, materials, and colors. For the first time, the craftsmanship of traditional saddlery and leather goods asserts itself through the creation of a line of home objects. The throw basket, buckets, and Derby centerpieces are entirely made of leather. A material that, in these objects, lends itself to every form of exploration in terms of construction, size, color palette, geometry: colored leather strips front-back, stitched and sewn by hand, are rolled up to form a basket, while centerpieces with leather inlay show off their graphic patterns. The soft leather, shaped by the virtuosity of skilled artisans, transforms into a solid object. Thus, the Hermès tradition expands into the intimacy of living spaces.

For further information hermes.com.

PHOTOGRAPHY

FRAGILE BEAUTY

2024.05.20

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London presents over 300 rare prints belonging to 140 world-renowned photographers. It’s a significant photographic exhibition that tells the story of the 20th and 21st centuries through the private collection of Sir Elton John and David Furnish.

JUST READ ART

2024.05.17

The Guggenheim Museum in New York presents Jenny Holzer: Light Line, a revisited interpretation of the artist’s historic 1989 installation, considered a masterpiece of textual art.

TALK

UNVEILING Fotinì Peluso

2024.05.13

The sea becomes a way to travel but also a meeting point for people, a way to reach destinations and embark on departures. Fotinì Peluso, born in 1999, takes center stage in the exhilarating rhythm of Chanel’s Cruise for Summer 2024, conceived and executed under the leaden skies of the French coastline.

CULTURE

STEVE MCQUEEN: BASS

2024.05.10

Steve McQueen’s new exhibition at Dia:Beacon in New York utilizes only the most basic structural elements of cinema to offer an experience that speaks to both the past and new ways of being: light and sound.

EXHIBITION

TESTAMENT TO YOUTH

2024.04.29

After studying at the Academy of the Antwerp Six, Willy Vanderperre embarked on his career as a photographer. From Raf Simons and Dior to Jil Sander and Prada, the Belgian photographer has built upon a strict religious upbringing and adolescent solitude as the driving force behind his creative sphere.