Hermès FW25: Urban Amazons, Shanghai Nights, and the Beauty of Controlled Power

Forget galloping horses on country estates. At North Bund Bay, with Shanghai’s hyper-modern skyline glowing behind her, Nadège Vanhée didn’t just present Hermès' second FW25 chapter, she delivered a high-octane manifesto for the modern warrior woman.

Framed by an ephemeral, modular structure (think: sleek architecture meets stealth runway bunker), the show unfolded like a cinematic whisper: silent confidence, clean power, unapologetically refined. The Hermès woman isn’t screaming to be seen. She moves, and the world pivots to watch.

This season, she’s a cosmopolitan nomad: grounded in city grit, guided by nature’s rhythm, layered in meaning. The braid — Hermès’ signature nod to equestrian heritage — comes back not as ornament but as statement. It’s deconstructed, twisted, reengineered: symbolic of identity, lineage, and the quiet strength that binds.

What does that look like in fabric? Sculptural coats that morph with a zip. Ponchos so lush you want to live inside them. Modular silhouettes in double-faced cashmere that adapt to real life, weather, movement, chaos included. There's an intentional frisson between control and fluidity: French bistro textures clash playfully with tech-y utility. Think: contrast corded knits, quilted leathers, unexpected structure.

The palette speaks in terrain tones — terracotta, clay, muted violets — before flaring into reckless orange, indigo blues, and ember reds. You don’t wear these clothes to fade in. You wear them to exist exactly as you are.

After the show? North Bund turned into a full-blown sensory playground: live music, light installations, and a color-drenched afterglow that screamed "this is not your mother’s Hermès."

And maybe that’s the point. The Hermès woman isn’t here to follow codes. She’s here to rewrite them — with a flick of her braid and boots that don’t just walk, but command.

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