Window dressing in retail: let´s learn from... Hermès

Few brands illustrate as well as Hermès the meaning of  luxury and sophistication in French fashion. 

This authentic icon came to light in 1,837 in Paris, but not exactly as you could imagine. Its main line of products were harnesses, saddles and bridles for horses and carriages (hence the famous representation of the carriage that goes with its logo). 

Thierry Hermès's products were of such quality that they became very popular among the aristocracy and the wealthiest classes in all of France and Europe in general, and so it was for decades. When Thierry dies in 1,880, his son moves his store to Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honoré where its flagship store remains today. 

The evolution of the brand towards fashion and accessories came much later. At first, making bags for riders, later, leather jackets, special mention to the one made for those golf games played by Prince Edward of Wales (the first zipper designed in France), and thus, up to our days going through the hands of other glamour icons like Jacqueline Kennedy or Grace Kelly. 

This business mutation, together with the impact of the passage of time at the aesthetic level (and more so in a long-lived brand), has made everything transformed. Although its original store is still open in one of the best areas of Paris, this and the other 240 that have been opened all over the world, have been adapting its style to a common line between the spectacular and the showcase sublimated to Art category. 

In this whole path there was a before and after. As in the case of Loewe's showcases, in which the artistic direction of José Pérez de Rozas was the one that defined glory days and the master lines of what has been the modern showcase of the brand, in Hermès , there is a figure that emerges above all, its name: Leïla Menchari. 

This designer of Tunisian origin entered the brand under the direction of Annie Beaumel. In 1.978 she took control until 2.013. In these 35 years she gave shape to dozens of showcases, which highlights an overflowing imagination, a world full of mystery and a very particular way of using storytelling. 

Such is the size of her legend and the respect of the brand that the book The Queen of Enchantment was published. Some of her most recognized works are included on it, and even an impressive exhibition called "The Worlds of Leïla Menchari" took place at the end of 2.017

You will never find a middle ground. Its creations move from one side to the other of the balance. 

We will find Baroque worlds full of surprising and complicated elements that make us stop in front of the window to scrutinize them with our nose glued to the glass. 

Hermès windows automatically take you to another reality, to an indeterminate place that seems to be taken directly from a dream. 

It can be an exotic imaginary country, a jungle full of life or a decadent garden in which vegetation serves as a framework for strategically products that are placed to shine like part of that fantasy (probably the only tangible part of it). 

To a large extent, these types of brands that are so aspirational, seek to generate feelings that we can associate with the purchase of their products. 

You are not buying a handkerchief, a purse or a belt... you are buying a Hermès product with everything it entails. You become part of what you see in the showcase and the experience of the store itself. 

Very often you will find environments built from vegetation, forests, deserts... More than showcases you could say that they are windows to other living places, that allow us to leave the context of the street with their cars and noises to focus on a more natural environment. 

You can also find animals and other inhabitants of these worlds, although they are usually not excessively figurative representations of them. Sometimes they are geometric and very regular, others they are pure colorist exuberance and full of textures. 

In an absolutely intentional way, Hermès showcases contain many mysterious elements that keep the door open to interpretation by those who observe it. 

It is very common to have the feeling of being in front of the scene resulting from a moment that remains open. What has happened before? What is going to happen now? It is a way to leave storytelling up in the air and keep us attentive while we seek answers.