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Fashion

by Sofia Brontvein

Hermès WRTW Fall-Winter 2025 Is All About Culture, History, And Heritage

15 Jun 2025

Photo: Mengxiang Wang

I have long argued that fashion is not merely a matter of aesthetics or seasonal novelty — it is an applied science, a discipline that sits at the intersection of sociology, history, and art criticism. And yet, in today’s trend-driven landscape, it is increasingly rare to find a fashion house that treats every collection, every activation, every runway show as both an artistic statement and a scholarly essay — something rich with meaning, narrative, and research, worthy of decoding.
To me, Hermès remains one of the very few haute couture Maisons that doesn’t just preserve its legacy in vague gestures or nostalgic cues — it deepens that legacy with each passing season. It does so not by pandering to hype culture or the fleeting attention spans of so-called opinion leaders, but by leaning more fully into its origins. And somehow, every Hermès show still becomes a moment — a visual language that resonates instantly, with details that ripple across the industry as new codes, new trends.
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Photo: Filippo Fior

The Second Chapter of the Women’s Ready-to-Wear Fall/Winter 2025 collection, created by Nadège Vanhée, Artistic Director of Women’s Ready-to-Wear at Hermès, was unveiled in Shanghai — a decision that feels rich in both symbolism and subtle provocation. The venue: a cruise terminal overlooking the Huangpu River, with a view of the Oriental Pearl Tower. One of the most iconic vistas in this eclectic city, a city with a surprisingly deep, long-standing connection to France.
This was only the second time Hermès has staged a runway show outside of Paris. The first? New York, last year — also for the Women’s Fall/Winter collection, and also, notably, by the water. Clearly, nothing is ever accidental with Hermès. Locations are never backdrops — they are chapters in a wider narrative, offering layered allusions to the brand’s heritage and evolving identity.
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Photo: Filippo Fior

Of course, there is the obvious logic — China is a cornerstone market for the Maison, and honouring Shanghai in this way is a gesture that makes business sense. But there is more to it than strategy. The threads tying Hermès to this city are numerous, nuanced, and enduring.
Hermès' relationship with China is not a fleeting fascination with a growing luxury market — it is a quietly cultivated dialogue that spans decades, rooted in cultural appreciation, meticulous craftsmanship, and a shared reverence for heritage. Unlike brands that have rushed to localise or adapt themselves to Eastern sensibilities, Hermès has always taken a more subtle, thoughtful approach — one that speaks less in slogans and more in symbolism.
One of the most significant moments in the maison’s Chinese narrative was the 2010 launch of Shang Xia — a contemporary lifestyle brand born from Hermès but grounded entirely in Chinese craftsmanship, design codes, and materials. Rather than imposing a French aesthetic, Shang Xia was envisioned as a mirror held up to China’s own cultural legacy — a poetic and, at the time, revolutionary move for a European house. It was the first time a Western luxury brand had invested in a fully independent Chinese label, not as a franchise or market entry tool, but as a creative proposition.
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Photo: Armando Grillo

Throughout the years, Hermès has also paid homage to Chinese themes within its collections, though always in a way that eschews cliché or surface-level interpretation. Iconic silk scarves, for example, have featured intricate references to Chinese calligraphy, mythology, and horology, with designs like “La Danse du Cheval Marwari” and “Cheval Surprise” nodding to the importance of the horse not only in Hermès’ own origin story but in Chinese symbolism. Even their colour stories — with bold vermilions and golden ochres — have occasionally alluded to imperial palettes, though never overtly.
In terms of activations, China has long been a canvas for Hermès' most immersive experiences. In 2014, the “Festival des Métiers” exhibition travelled to Shanghai, offering Chinese audiences a rare, intimate look at the house’s artisans at work — from saddle stitching to silk printing. It wasn’t just a display of luxury; it was an invitation into the atelier, an almost spiritual gesture of transparency. More recently, Hermès has opened Maison-sized flagships in cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou that blur the line between retail and museum, temples of quiet elegance designed to reflect both French refinement and Chinese modernity.
The decision to stage the Fall/Winter 2025 show in Shanghai, then, is not simply a commercial strategy — it is a continuation of this long, slow-burn relationship. It is a nod to the audience that understands the language of subtlety, to a city that knows how to read between the lines. And, as always with Hermès, it is less about selling and more about storytelling.
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Photo: Mengxiang Wang

The choice of Shanghai as Hermès’ runway setting gains even deeper meaning when one considers the enduring, if often understated, presence of France within the city’s own cultural DNA. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the leafy lanes of the former French Concession — a neighbourhood unlike any other in China, where Art Deco mansions, wrought-iron balconies, and tree-lined boulevards evoke a quiet echo of Paris. Established in the mid-19th century, the Concession was once home to French diplomats, merchants, and creatives, and it remains one of the most romantic enclaves in Shanghai — a district where café culture, literary salons, and avant-garde galleries still thrive in the shadow of sycamores.
But this influence goes far beyond architecture. French sensibilities have long shaped Shanghai’s artistic life and gastronomic rhythm. The city’s historic embrace of patisserie, perfumery, and fine tailoring is no coincidence — it is the result of a long-standing dialogue between East and West, elegance and experimentation. From jazz clubs in the 1920s to today’s contemporary art spaces and Michelin-starred bistros, there is a kind of Franco-Chinese fusion that pulses through Shanghai’s veins, making it, in many ways, the most European of Chinese metropolises. For a Maison like Hermès, which thrives on heritage and context, the city is not just a venue. It is a kindred spirit.
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Photo: Hermès

Titled “Au Galop!”, the second chapter of Hermès’ Fall-Winter 2025 Women’s Ready-to-Wear collection reads like a poetic gallop through time, nodding to the maison’s equestrian beginnings while embracing a modular, urban elegance. Under the creative direction of Nadège Vanhée, the collection navigates the paradoxes of contemporary life: heritage versus innovation, sensuality versus protection, cosmopolitan flair versus pastoral nostalgia. The silhouette is clean yet layered, sharp yet yielding — built for a woman in motion, but always in control.
At its core lies the braid, not just as a decorative motif, but as a narrative device. A direct reference to equestrian plaits and the Dressage Tressage carré by Virginie Jamin, it symbolises connection, continuity, and the tactile intelligence that defines Hermès craftsmanship. The house’s original métier — saddle-making — is subtly evoked in the choice of materials and construction: double-faced cashmeres echo the traditional horse blanket, while ponchos, quilted leathers, and cord-embellished collars recall the rigour and romance of the stable. Even the woven patterns of certain coats carry a quiet wink to French bistro chairs — a whisper of Paris in the wind of Shanghai.