Hermès Threw a Party That Was Basically a Wonderland for Men
The setting: the ferry terminal at the old Kai Tak Airport, on the banks of the Victoria Harbour, and with the Hong Kong skyline in the middle distance. It's the kind of place that would figure in a 007 movie, maybe, or your dream where you're an international man of mystery.
It's the kind of thing only Hermès could pull off: throwing a flawlessly executed party that's as quirky and playful as it is masculine. Men Upside Down, the 2017 edition of the fashion house's annual Men's Universe event was only partly a fashion show (for the Autumn/Winter 2017 collection), and mostly a celebration of, well, the men's universe.
Few other after-parties can have guests—in this case, VIP clients, with a liberal sprinkling of members of the media, social and otherwise—giggling like little boys as they wandered from themed room to themed room, discovering the witty setups waiting within.
There was a nostalgic game room featuring everything from arcade machines to pingpong tables and bubblegum dispensers, kitted out in the brand's robotic spider print:
There was this library of liquor:
And Hermès shoes zooming around a toy racetrack:
An ice room had guests queing for up to an hour to experience either the subzero temps or accompanying Hermès cashmere coats.
Only in an upside-down museum would you be required to touch the displays.
Jason Bourne in Through the Looking Glass:
This museum of men's clothes, with plaques honoring the (fictional? real?) everyday men who wore them, plays to men's most vain fantasies.
The Ti(m)e Bar had us reflecting on the inexonerable passage of time and thinking about the quality of neckwear all at once.
French alternative-rock band Camp Claude provided the musical backdrop for the entire evening.
