It’s been said that form follows function, and nothing could be truer than in the case of La Maison, Hermès’s chic new line of gorgeous home goods. La Maison means “the home,” and it’s an apt name for a product line that includes tables, chairs, sofas, chaises, ottomans, fabrics, wallpapers, and more.
The French haute couture house, begun in 1837 by Thierry Hermès as a harness workshop in the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, is already known worldwide for its luxury leather goods, accessories, perfumes, and ready-to-wear garments. Its home furnishings are expected to follow suit. “These collections are an opportunity to demonstrate a contemporary expression of Hermès, faithful to its craftsman spirit and imbued with values of functionality and comfort,” says Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès.
The team behind the new collection reads like a who’s who in global design: Enzo Mari, an influential Italian designer; Antonio Citterio, the Italian architect known globally for his innovative furniture and product designs; and Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure (RDAI), a widely recognized Paris-based architecture firm.
Mari’s work on the new collections is compared to Hermès’s previous home collections of the 1920s and 1930s, designed by Jean-Michel Frank with an “elemental sobriety” in mind. In 2010, some of these pieces were reissued. “This long process enabled me to understand in depth the work that goes into materials such as the Hermès leathers,” Mari says of working with Hermès craftsmen and its R&D workshop. The team used “the most noble wood that exists, with its flamed vein and warm brown coloring.”
Citterio utilized his expertise on the Matières collection, perfecting the details of the furniture to create seamless unions of wood, leather, metal, and fabric. Of the process, Citterio says, “First, we want to sit, then to touch and to make the object live.”
The house of Hermès has a long history as an illustrator and colorist as well. Fabrics in the collections include the Illustrative, the Graphic, and the Plains and Semi-Plains designs. Pêle-mêle wallpaper, designed by Philippe Dumas, channels Hermès’s equestrian history, while Indian themes harness the enchantment of travel. These designs already exist on either silk scarves or porcelain tableware, and they are now available in accompanying furnishing fabric.
The Get: Floor Flourish
Walk on air with lush handmade carpets from the new Ben Soleimani for Restoration Hardware collection, a dazzling array of neutral-toned floor couture available in hand-knotted, Tibetan, distressed, and heathered wool, as well as flat-weave styles. Understated and timeless patterns evoke architectural ironwork, antique carpets, North African themes, and Art Deco. The minds behind these sweet and surprising carpets are Gary Friedman, Restoration Hardware chairman and co-CEO, and Soleimani, principal and head designer of Mansour Modern.
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