Hermès’s Collections at Milan Design Week 2022

Lightness
The quest for lightness, like a challenge to gravity, is incarnated by the creation of objects for the home, showcased in four structures at Milan Design Week 2022. These constructions, in the shape of water towers, are light despite their monumental proportions, and made of wood and covered with translucent colored paper, they radiate light. Inside, each object expresses know-how that draws power from precision.

For the first time, textiles are the underlying theme running through a home collection. Five creations form the fabric of this manifesto for lightness. They are all made from cashmere, one of the house’s favorite materials. This infinitely delicate natural fiber combines a taut hand with bright colors. Textiles explore different manufacturing techniques: strips of cashmere form the design of ethereal plaids; squares woven and dyed by hand make up a great patchwork of shimmering colors; geometric shapes assembled using a linking technique evoke stained-glass windows; a large, quilted bed cover brings colors, patchwork, and traditional quilting technique into dialogue.  

Objects
Porcelain and furniture assert their singularity: a cut and folded sheet of leather with hand-painted decoration becomes a centerpiece; porcelain plates reflect sunlight; a canework seat affords a chair as much delicacy as it does strength. Lightness of lines produces timeless style, as these creations demonstrate. Our perception changes as light plays over them when backlit against the scenographic structures: poetic giants and anchoring points for these small miracles of equilibrium. 

L'Observatoire International was invited by Hermès to develop the lighting scheme for Hermès’s collections exhibition at the 2022 Milan Design Week with designer Studio CMP. The exhibition consisted of four to five vertical architectural volumes lit from within and covered by transparent paper.

L'Observatoire International Team: Hervé Descottes, Etienne Gillabert, Elie Nespoulous, Giuseppe Bini, Francesco Secone.