Hermès Brings Brick to the Floors of Milan Design Week

Known for the timeless artisanal character in each of their pieces, luxury design specialists Hermès pared back opulence to the source in their coveted exhibition at Milan Design Week. Honouring their history as a brand dedicated to quality, visitors witnessed an anomalous display, championing the earth and its sacred resources as the roots of design itself.

Devised and executed at the globally-anticipated Milan Design Week, the exhibition reflects the ingenuity, excellence and expressiveness distinctive to the annual event. Conceived in 1961, the trade fair convenes in early April, bringing together internationally-acclaimed creatives to share, celebrate and collaborate on all things design. What results is a space for spontaneous experimentation and connection, forming lasting dialogues between the world’s best designers.

Having traditionally crafted bold and elaborate exhibitions for their Milan Design Week feature, Hermès home artistic directors Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry chose an entirely different route for 2024. Stepping into a shadowy, cavernous space, visitors are initially met with confusion as to the intention of their gaze, before veering downwards to ingest the heart of the display – a complex arrangement of over 20 organic materials that decorate the floor of the La Pelota venue with drama. The patterned pathways that stretch between the panels are inspired by an ornate Hermès jockey blouse, leading visitors on a slow and gradual journey through the site of raw materials, allowing them to experience the individual intricacies of the earth, bricks, terracotta, rocks and timber.

Playing with ideas of longevity and time, the authenticity of clay, stone and soil is at the centre of Hermès’ legacy. The display makes the ordinary sublime in its angular, panelled presentation creating connection between the earth, refinement and celebration within the design process. In placing brickwork across the flooring, the exhibition recognises raw materials as the foundations of our societies, architecture and communities. Choosing local materials already in existence, the curation of the installation holds respect for the natural environment, seeing the materials sent back to local suppliers for reuse or recycling to preserve and extend their usage.

After making their way through the material maze that spans the room, visitors arrived at a screened corridor, containing elements both new and old. Pieces from Hermès’ extensive archives reflected the house’s near two-century old legacy, the vintage mixing with a collection of 21 new creations that echoed the more traditional design elements. The buoyant patterns of a new blanket are seen in a sleek chevron cigarette case from the 1930s, while the hammered silver of a 2002 necklace ties in the aluminium accents of a new leather lounge.

Beginning with materials in their purest form, luxury design house Hermès takes visitors through its rich heritage, pausing to reflect on quality from inception, tying tradition to innovation in their thoughtful portrayal.

“In placing brickwork across the flooring, the exhibition recognises raw materials as the foundations of our societies, architecture and communities.”

“In placing brickwork across the flooring, the exhibition recognises raw materials as the foundations of our societies, architecture and communities.”