After 190 years, Hermès is finally entering the world of haute couture with its first collection, set to be unveiled in January 2027
The art of the hand has always been at the heart of the House of Hermès. Yet this art will take a new step forward in January 2027, with an event unlike anything the Parisian brand has ever seen in its 190-year history.
The needle: the guiding principle of a company founded in 1837
Before we even talk about the fashion show, we need to understand why this announcement has made such a big splash. Hermès was founded in 1837. Since then, the saddle stitch—that precise technique inherited from saddlery—has defined every piece of leather goods. Thus, fashion is no foreign territory for the brand: it is, quite literally, its foundation.
Nadège Vanhée, creative director of women’s ready-to-wear, confirmed this consistency in a statement to WWD. She will therefore present the house’s very first haute couture collection during Paris Fashion Week in January 2027. This ambition is not a sudden shift, but a natural progression.
“Basically, we’re quite connected to sewing. Pierre-Alexis always talks about his fascination with the needle from the Paleolithic era; even today, that needle remains an indispensable tool for making a saddle—that saddler’s stitch.”
Expertise that’s already evident in every design
Hermès’ leather goods, like their designs, already reflect the high standards characteristic of the great fashion houses. Furthermore, crafting exceptional pieces poses an ongoing challenge: passing down the workshops’ techniques from one generation to the next. This challenge is common to all artistic crafts in France, and Hermès faces it with particular acuity.
Nadège Vanhée sums up this challenge clearly. For her, designing haute couture in the 21st century means responding to an era in which the sensitive touch is becoming increasingly rare. The hand, then, as an act of resistance.
Nadège Vanhée Faces the Challenges of the 21st Century
What the artistic director describes is a tension unique to our time. On the one hand, a demand for craftsmanship that requires time, presence, and physical effort. On the other, an era of distance and dematerialization. Through this advertisement, Hermès has chosen to take a clear stand in favor of the embodied gesture.
Nadège Vanhée puts it this way in her conversation with *Vogue France*: “It’s an endeavor that will combine this commitment to craftsmanship with contemporary boldness. “It’s very interesting to design haute couture in the 21st century, at a time when we’re all distanced from one another, when the sensitive touch is becoming increasingly disembodied.” This statement says it all about the vision that will guide the first collection.
Consequently, haute couture at Hermès will not be a mere exercise in decorative style. It will serve a specific purpose: to put craftsmanship back at the center and shed the right light on it.
A house on the move since October 2025
This announcement did not come out of the blue. As early as October 2025, Hermès had begun a new chapter by appointing Grace Wales Bonner to lead its men’s collections. In this way, the house is gradually realizing its creative ambitions while remaining true to its founding identity.
These two decisions are part of the same philosophy: to broaden the scope without compromising the brand’s essence. For Hermès has never chased trends. The house moves at its own pace, with a consistency that is rare in the luxury world.
January 2027: a date to mark on the fashion calendar
Hermès will make its debut on this prestigious calendar during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in January 2027. The announcement was made on July 9, 2026, just as the Fall/Winter 2026–2027 Haute Couture Fashion Week was drawing to a close. The timing is no coincidence.
Next, this inaugural collection will be followed by a presentation during the Spring/Summer 2028 Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris. The house is thus joining the official haute couture calendar with a long-term vision, not just as a fleeting appearance.
For the first time in 190 years, Hermès will showcase its creations on a stage that has never before borne its name. This gesture—precise, measured, and deeply meaningful—resembles all those that the house has always valued: the ones that truly matter.
