Everything The Light Touches

In the wake of a pandemic that saw many of us grow far too familiar with the four walls of our dwellings, a new Hermès collection designed for the home suggests that there are brighter days ahead.

- Divya Bala

“When Alexis and I arrived at Hermès, we decided to create objects that were light”

—CHARLOTTE MACAUX PERELMAN

In the science of sight, most objects are perceived only by the light they reflect. A love affair between eye and illumination, if you will. For Hermès’s 2022 collection for the home, light and lightness were recurring themes, seen through the four monumental light installations that housed the collections for the brand’s launch at Milan’s Salone del

Mobile in June. Brutalist in inspiration, their forms inspired by water towers, each radiant structure possessed the perceived weightlessness of a Chinese lantern, thanks to a delicate construction of wood wrapped in translucent, pulpy paper bathed in a patisserie-coloured palette.

“We chose the topic of lightness this year because it’s perhaps not something one immediately thinks of when speaking of Hermès. There is this idea that objects made by Hermès must be robust, sturdy, thick, and lasting—they should be items that can stand the test of time,” explains Charlotte Macaux Perelman, co-artistic director in charge of Hermès Home along with Alexis Fabry. “When Alexis and I arrived at Hermès, we decided to create objects that were light.”