Key highlights from Véronique Nichanian's final Hermès menswear collection
Paris, France – A standing ovation and “immense emotion” marked the presentation of French designer Véronique Nichanian’s final Hermès collection on Saturday evening in Paris. After 37 years leading the menswear line, she presented a collection she wanted to be “just like the others”.
“It is incredibly emotional. This is not a retrospective, nor is it nostalgic. Seeing everyone who loves me, embraces me, and tells me they are touched is powerful. All this affection and love is very strong,” the 71-year-old designer told AFP following the show at the Palais Brongniart in Paris.
Backstage, many notable figures gathered to greet and congratulate her, including British designer Paul Smith, American singer Usher, and 'Gossip Girl' star Ed Westwick.
Véronique Nichanian announced her departure in October. “It is my decision to stop and do something else,” she stated. This includes taking more time for herself, particularly to “fulfil a long-held dream” of spending several months in Japan, as she told French newspaper Le Figaro at the time.
Although the designer is leaving her role as artistic director of the menswear collections, she is not stepping away from Hermès entirely. “I will continue to work on men's silk and leather, but I am stopping ready-to-wear, and that is a whole chapter of my life,” she explained.
Nods to the past
For this final presentation, Véronique Nichanian chose not to deviate from her usual method. “This last collection was a collection just like the others,” she said.
“As subtle nods, however, I included pieces from different collections, with outfits from 1991, 2001, and 2010. This was to prove how timeless Hermès clothing is. They are made for today and for always.”
Straight-leg leather trousers; hooded shearling parkas; straight-cut wool felt jackets; crocodile jackets; cashmere jumpers; and flannel suits made up this new wardrobe.
The collection featured a very monochrome palette of black, grey, beige, and taupe, occasionally highlighted with flashes of colour: mustard yellow on a parka or bright pink in the lining of a jacket.
After the finale, the designer took one last lap of the runway to a standing ovation from the several hundred guests, while giant screens broadcast her past shows.
Not difficult
As one of the few women to establish herself in the world of menswear, Véronique Nichanian asserts that it “was not difficult”.
From Nino Cerruti, who hired her straight out of school, to Jean-Louis Dumas, who brought her to Hermès in 1988, she says she encountered “intelligent men who saw a designer instead of thinking ‘it’s a woman or it’s a man’.”
The British designer of Jamaican descent, Grace Wales Bonner, was appointed to succeed her a few days after her departure was announced. She will present her first collection in January 2027. The June collection will be prepared by the in-house design studios.
“I wish her the best for the future,” said Nichanian, adding that they had not yet met. The Hermès womenswear collections remain under the direction of Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski, who has led the line since 2014.
This change comes amidst a major reshuffle of artistic directors at Chanel, Dior, and Gucci, as the luxury market faces economic and commercial challenges. Hermès is not experiencing this crisis. The house, whose annual results are expected on February 12, saw its turnover grow by 6.3 percent in the first nine months of 2025, reaching 11.9 billion euros (14.1 billion dollars).
Last year, the luxury group invested over one billion euros, which included opening a 25th leather goods workshop in Charente, France. Hermès plans to open three more in the country over the next three years.
In this context, the executive vice president of finance, Eric du Halgouët, confirmed in October that the project to launch into haute couture was “well underway,” but not “before 2027 at the earliest.”
This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com