Hermès has been a long-time resident on London’s New Bond Street and it clearly sees a bright future there as the closure of its existing store last week has been followed up with the opening of its new megastore, something that has been almost two decades in the making as it first acquired the space in 2009.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
The new location certainly ups the stakes after what was clearly a big — no, make that massive — investment to create a giant-sized space (or more accurately, series of spaces) that can’t really be summed up by the word ‘store’.
The new location at 166 New Bond Street (but also spreading into space on Grafton Street and Albermarle Street) becomes the brand’s sixth ‘Maison’ worldwide and is said it be a “milestone for the house”.
It’s undeniably impressive and is made up of six listed buildings comprising nearly 2,000 square metres. It features more than 500 artworks (selected specifically for this address under the supervision of artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas) and “celebrates Hermès’ memorable journey in the United Kingdom by showcasing the house’s creativity and know-how through its 16 métiers across multiple bespoke rooms”.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
Originally begun in 1769, the building was added to in subsequent years and developed into multiple connected buildings now spreading over five floors. You can appreciate its size when you learn that the store now has 55 rooms, four staircases, three elevators and roof terraces.
Each room mixes historic features with contemporary elements , and visitors can “catch glimpses of the original detailing as well as the new ornamentation, colour and décor” that was designed by the Parisian architecture agency RDAI, under the supervision of artistic director Denis Montel.
Historic and modern
So, what do we find there? The first sight is the seven-metre-high façade. There’s a vaulted ceiling, built to echo the six arches of the store’s windows. 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. That’s one of the most modernist (and striking) areas of the Maison.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
The limestone and glass staircase, whose handmade handrail is finished in calfskin, has also been extended upwards two floors. And the once-mirrored south wall is now lined in classic Manchester bricks cast in mirrored glass.
The artworks include photographs, illustrations and contemporary designs, as well as a specially commissioned horse sculpture by British artist Jessica Wetherly found within the store’s atrium.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
Through the second entrance, the beauty, perfumes and fashion jewellery areas are in an “imaginary orangery” and feature walls commissioned from London-based illustrator Katie Scott.
Leading up to the first floor we see 20 intercommunicating rooms, beginning with the red-hued rooms for the leather goods collections.
Panels of patinated copper lead to two private lounges, and then on to the home collections. The company has pulled out all the stops for this area with full equestrian collection presented at the centre of this floor in a space finished with boiserie shaped in straw and horsehair marquetry overlooking the atrium.
Meanwhile, along the length of the façade are six “intimate” rooms for watches and jewellery.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
The second floor starts with women’s shoes in a space with hand-finished walls and ceilings in powder pink mineral mortar, plus traditional wood panelling and floral carpeting. Original 19th-century mosaic floors lead from two private salons to women’s ready-to-wear, with walls painted pink and a series of hand-tufted rugs.
For men, along the length of the New Bond Street-facing side, the space has reclaimed oak floors and geometrical carpeting, while walls feature Lancashire-made textured coverings in deep blue, first developed in Victorian times. There’s also a relaxing space for tea or coffee where drinkers can admire the view onto the atrium.
Photo: Valérie Sadoun for Hermès
On the third floor, Hermès leather artisans work 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 all about the Émile Hermès Collection, a space “imagined as an evocation of the private collection housed at 24, faubourg Saint-Honoré”. And rooftop lounges lead to two gardens.
The new store features a number of exclusive products across multiple categories and even a set of leather-handled stainless steel gardening tools with a red denim and leather apron.
As part of the opening, the windows of 166 New Bond Street showcase The Rocabarn, an imaginary horse grooming parlour created in crochet, knit and embroidery by English artist Kate Jenkins.
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