Hermès is making fashion fairytales come true. The French luxury house’s “On The Wings of Hermès” experience kicked off July 15 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, where the free event runs through July 23.
Guests will be transported into a dreamy, mythical universe inspired by the fable of Pegasus in the show created by Belgian duo, director Jaco Van Dormael and choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey, together with the Astragales dance company. The performance blends dance, moving objects, music and cinema in a seven-part play where Kelly bag puppets sing, where attendees get a birds-eye view of dancers who appear to “float” through the sky and where giant horses play with perspective in a living room diorama, to name just a few fantastical scenes.
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The show began a day after the death of Jane Birkin, the Anglo-French singer, actress and fashion icon who passed away at 76 and for whom Hermès named its highly sought-after buckled leather carryall. (It’s worth noting that the carryall does not make a cameo in the “On the Wings of Hermès.”)
Dormael and Mey debuted their show last October in Paris at La Villette’s Grand Halle before stops in Japan and Taiwan. The touring theatre symbolizes the “lightness” embedded within Hermès’ coveted collection of handbags, clothing, perfumes and leather goods.
“This work metaphorically illustrated the lightness that is omnipresent at Hermès: in the delicate hands of our craftsmen sewing with two needles at once; in the elegance of the materials, and in the subtle notes of a perfume. It is an experience which sparks the imagination, designed by artisans of dreams,” says Hermès artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas.
The latest collection represents the era of “astonishment” for Hermès, a time for surprise and reinvention as the house continues pushing the bounds with its imaginative collections. Helmed by creative director Véronique Nichaniani, Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2023 season unveiled ethereal men’s and women’s wear, an outdoors-inspired objet collection, and a slew of new utilitarian handbags rooted in its equestrian heritage, including the Arcon bag, Petite Course bag, Maxi Kelly and the Buddypocket bag.
That same element of surprise will be on full display throughout the performance.
Amongst the backdrop of a vast dark space resembling a film studio, the seven sketches unfold, one by one, the Greek mythology tale of Pegasus, the mythical winged horse, and his seven foils on the quest to find their lightness so they can grow their wings and fly. Guests will discover a tale through the multi-layered skits, each immersed in its own landscapes and utopic worlds where poetic figurines and puppet-like Hermès objects come alive in a choreography of twirling hands.
The moving scenes intertwine dancers, choreographers, lighting and image technicians for an unforgettable performance that’s both cinematic and poetic. From a humorous opera sung by a cast of Hermès “Kelly” bags to a delicate dance sequence depicting two lovers carried away by the wind into the sky, the show is captured in real-time by Jaco Van Dormeal and projected onto a giant screen to recreate the magic of illusion.
Hermès recently won a suit against artist Mason Rothschild, whose Birkin-inspired nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were found by a federal jury to be in violation of the luxury fashion house’s trademark rights.
The Paris label staged its first West Coast menswear runway show in downtown L.A. in 2017, and has previously used a laundromat-inspired pop-up and an experiential Carre Club to celebrate its iconic silk scarves in City of Angels.
The “On The Wings of Hermès” experience will run at the Barker Hangar (3021 Airport Ave.) in Santa Monica from July 15-23 at 1:30, 3:30 and 6 p.m. daily. Guests can register for free admission at Hermes.com/wings.
This story was originally published on June 29, 2023.
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