fashion: all the trends Hermès: "The suit does not gentrify, it liberates"<

Véronique Nichanian presents herself modestly as making "modern clothes for a long time" when she is the artistic director of the entire men's universe of Hermès. It must be said that nothing predisposed her to dress men. She was flabbergasted when Nino Cerruti, on leaving school (the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture), contacted her for a job as an assistant, he who had liked her pencil stroke. He said to him: “It’s interesting, draw me some man for Monday. And this is how she began, at 19, a career in an environment where it was the men who decided. Today, for anyone who knows a little about it, owning a Hermès suit is the Holy Grail. What Véronique Nichanian has in mind and which can be seen in the clothes she creates, is a boy of our time, who has nothing vintage but who knows nothing of what preceded him. The models she chooses for her shows are legendaryly beautiful and elegant, all with extra soul. They also wear the costume like nobody else. That's why she's the one to talk to about the role of costume in 2019.

What does it mean for a man to wear a suit today?

In my opinion, this means that it is a choice and that this man wants to be sexy, to see his body drawn. In this, things have changed. Social status counts less, diktats are less strong. Admittedly, the costume is sometimes compulsory, it then becomes almost a uniform, but it is an epiphenomenon. In reality, today we are much less obliged to comply with a clothing standard, there are lots of other proposals, pants and jackets for every day... Desire comes first and that's what counts.

Diktats, we still have a few…

Yes, of course. Like, for example, when Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook, appears to testify before a grand jury in the United States. He comes in a suit and tie, he who we used to see in a sweatshirt. But we are in a very formal framework. During the fittings with us, I can clearly see the effect that the costume has on the models. They arrive with a jacket and jeans and from the moment they put on the suit, they look in the mirror, very proud. They discover another dimension of themselves. They discover themselves in a constructed garment. Watching them observe themselves in the mirror is wonderful. Something is born...

Aren't they upset to see themselves becoming gentlemen, to become the norm?

No, because that norm no longer exists in their culture. Their parents are not like that, so they look freely at these old codes or in the light of cool movies they have seen. It doesn't gentrify them, it liberates them... Me, when I started in this profession, the norm was everywhere. We were starting a professional life so we needed a serious air that we associated with the costume. Only those exercising liberal professions, such as architects, could come in a polo shirt, a velvet jacket... Now, we are as credible in a turtleneck as in a shirt.

A suit is also a very special material that you wear, which has nothing to do with the coarse cotton canvas of jeans, for example. You have to get used to it...

Softness is a key aspect because this creamy material, in addition to causing sensations, also draws another body. First of all, it's sexy for yourself. Feeling so good gives an aura, a confidence.

These young people who suddenly adore each other in suits, why don't they wear them more often?

It will come, but they weren't raised that way. They have to learn on their own and that takes time. What I notice is that they are very tempted. Admittedly, they still imagine that to “get dressed” one needs the circumstance that goes with it. Often, they buy a suit for a wedding and then they take a liking to wearing it. It's like the tie, they don't tighten it completely, at least at first. Then they tame it all, they learn to play it, just like a woman learns to play from a different locker room.

Do they buy a lot of vintage?

It can happen but not really at the initiation stage. Often, as soon as we weigh a vintage costume, we are discouraged by its weight. In recent years, they have become considerably lighter, they offer comfort that my father's generation could not have imagined. A winter fabric could be 400 grams per square meter, now we have fabrics at 200 grams. And which are just as warm. The interlinings are very different, we no longer put ourselves in a straightjacket, the structure is born from the construction of the pattern and the quality of the new weavings of amazing finesse. Young people mostly start with a cheaper suit and then understand that without quality it doesn't last very long.

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— Alex! 🍊| SELFIE DAY 📌 Fri Jul 30 01:49:13 +0000 2021

Sometimes cheap suits are too shiny or too shouldered…

When you're young, you're beautiful in everything. But it's true that there are a lot of failed costumes. When you know it, you find few that are quite successful. In fact, it's a headache: you can very well have a perfect fabric but alas, if it's badly cut, everything falls into the water. Then you can have a beautiful material that can deform very quickly with use if the construction is not worked. It is the quality at all stages that makes the difference, from the choice of material to manufacturing.

What makes the difference is above all the construction?

Yes! It's down to the millimeter, the notch, the backhand, the shoulder, the assembly... To make sure you don't look like you're in a bag, you need days and days of elaboration. You also have to think about how the garment will live, it should not crease when you travel. In short, it is something precious, which is not fragile. In fact, a costume is made of a sum of details that we do not realize, unless we wear it. And I love this idea. That's luxury.

Is it difficult to find the fabrics? We know that finding the right leathers has become quite a business…

Fabrics, no. But you really have to know about it. I have known the people in this profession since I started, I find them in the salons where fabrics are presented. I believe I am one of the only ones with Paul Smith to take that time, to have direct contact with suppliers around the world to make exclusive fabrics.

Would you say that the quality of the fabrics has deteriorated over time?

It’s the opposite: the weavers have done a remarkable job. In this area, the Italians are geniuses.

And have men's bodies changed?

They pay much more attention to themselves, they play sports, they eat better. The costume is no longer used to hide flaws.

Speaking of sports, what do you think of the combination of sneakers and a suit?

I find it very interesting. When Mick Jagger got married in sneakers in 1971, everyone criticized him, but he announced something. And if sneakers allow men to dare to dress a little more sought after, if it comes as a guarantee of the rest, that's great. Overall, the question of shoes is decisive. The smartest men of the 20th century dared to wear new shoes with their suits. I am thinking of Gianni Agnelli, the boss of Fiat, in Venetian slippers, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in espadrilles… They say that the shoe is what betrays you. Indeed, we see immediately if you take care of yourself or not, if you are careful “until then”.

The men you quote also wore color. Jean d'Ormesson, divinely well dressed, wore grays and sky blue, he said that it enlightened him. And the color is very important.

It's essential! But I would rather talk about coloring. There were many men in dark suits in the last century. In the 1970s, those awful beige-yellows worn in the summer in Tergal… Getting a man to wear a soft or colorful blue suit is not easy, but it is doable. It's a lot of gifts. When you offer a sweater of a new color to a rather classic man, he is surprised but finally wears it because he has it! Then after a few compliments, it becomes her favorite sweater. While on his own, he would not have bought it. Things are moving in the right direction, I see more and more men wearing color.

Sportswear must have helped to bring color back into the men's wardrobe.

Yes, and real colors that pop. And men have also taken a liking to other materials. They have taken a liking to the comfort of Lycra, which is an extraordinary component if it is not just there to overcome a fit problem.

There is still one season where the costume is terribly lacking, it's summer. Dethroned by the shorts. Isn't that a pity?

Summer sounds with freedom and, precisely, I like the idea that men are free to choose, I don't want to impose anything... The choice of materials for summer suits is wide, there are cold wools or very light, very fresh linens. They are also irresistible.

Interviewed by Sophie Fontanel