Sensual Harness. Hermès SS26

H is for heritage, H is for Hermès.

Thanks to @dariagraczykowska, I had the immense pleasure of seeing – and touching – the brand’s spring–summer 2026 collection at its Parisian showroom. You can imagine my delight during the grand tour, as I found Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski’s latest collection to be one of her best yet.

Why? Because it channeled a newfound sensuality that felt as tough as the cognac-hued leathers and as feminine as the silk-printed scarves that covered the models’ breasts, tied meticulously beneath butter-soft harnesses. Vanhée-Cybulski drew inspiration from the Camargue – home to the white horses used by the region’s manadiers to herd bulls. Hence, the revisited equestrian aesthetic: bohemian in its play with vibrant prints, yet bourgeois in its solid composure.

A saddle from the Camargue, studied in Hermès’s conservatoire, led the creative director to design this season’s sublime leather corsets in earthy tones, worn with quilted riding jackets or styled over bandeaus. The reimagined corsets – evoking something of Christian Lacroix’s bravado, yet perfectly attuned to contemporary times – looked killer-chic when paired with matching leather pencil skirts and the most impeccable riding boots. I also loved the utilitarian jumpsuits and that one brown leather coat with rounded shoulders.

These clothes – and accessories, from the sumptuous suede Birkin to archival models revisited in thick canvas – are made to be worn and lived in, without fear of a little dirt along the way to your destination. Hermès crafts some of the most exquisite pieces in the world, and I found it truly intriguing – and subversive – that Nadège embraced the less glossier, more real attitude about them.