Precious tapestries and textiles set the tone at Hermès’s latest runway show. The French house showed its Fall/Winter 2022 menswear collection at the Mobilier National in Paris—making good use of the historical archive’s design collection to adorn its runway’s walls. Véronique Nichanian, creative director at Hermès Men, teamed up with theater director Cyril Teste to create a presentation that balanced luxury with function, and high culture with eccentricity.

Notable pieces included high-gloss crocodile jackets, fur-lined canvas coats, shearling-lined leather coats, a bright green anorak, a bright orange bomber, and sculptural, high-neck pink dress shirts. There were accessories, classic and rather new: silk foulards, stiff bucket hats, and a boxy, black play on the Haut à courroies bag with utilitarian embellishments. The shoes were classic Chelsea boots; they played on the matte versus shine theme, characteristic of the garments at large.

“This collection expresses a heartfelt desire for oxymorons and sophistication, contrasting materials, and superimposed elements tumbling after each other,” said Nichanian. Hermès’s version of masculinity is one shaped by tension—both timeless, and of-its-time.