Hermès’s latest fine jewelry collectsion, Enchaînements libres, is on a world tour! Coming from Paris is a performative dance work, commissioned by Hermès from esteemed French choreographer Christian Rizzo.
It was Creative Director of Hermès Jewelry Pierre Hardy who conceptualized the creative showcase, seeking out Rizzo to help realize the idea. "He's a choreographer that I have loved for a very long time and I knew his work; I saw a different show from him and I thought oh if we ever do something with dance, I would love it to be him, he is so clever,” said Hardy, seated on a bench at Jazz at Lincoln Center theater which occupies the upper floors of the Time Warner Center and offers sweeping views of a corner of Central Park.
Of the performances—there were a couple to take place in a post-fashion week New York City—editors and VIPs who weren’t off to London swung by one or the other to preview the exquisite baubles.
“It’s not a paraphrase [of the Enchaînements libres collectsion] it’s an introduction,” Hardy continued. And on that’s an apt description; to begin the show, two dancers took to a glossy stage inside the theater in a genderless pas de deux for a slick modern dance performance. Dressed in shrunken button-down shirts, black trousers, and pristine white sneakers (likely all Hermès, but of course) the dancers dazzled without a single piece of jewelry, which led the audience to wonder, so where is the jewelry? Eventually, out came a handful of performers in all black wearing the new collectsion; the pieces were inspired by the humble chain which was elevated to the nth degree by Hardy. The necklaces, bracelets, and rings caught the lights as the models snaked about and the performance ended with an invitation for guests in the audience (depending on which showing you went to, the likes of Nell Diamond, Colby Mugrabi, Kaley Cuoco, and Liya Kabede were present) to approach the stage and examine the wares closeup.
The performances were followed by a meal, hosted nearby. Tables were set as elegantly as one would expect of Hermès and the dim lighting set the mood. It was a theatrical event in every possible way.
Photo: BFA.com/Samantha Nandez1/1
