Hermèstories: a surreal journey through dream, savoir-faire, and enchantment
There’s a moment, in the hushed darkness of Milan’s Teatro Franco Parenti, when a zip opens – and it’s not just a sound: it’s a story. That’s where Hermèstories begins, the first theatrical production by Hermès, staged from September 11 to 21, and which I had the privilege to experience – not simply watch.
Written and directed by French theatre-maker Pauline Bayle, the show unfolds as a surreal and refined fable, where the maison’s objects – silk carrés, bags, buckles, orange boxes – become characters, voices, memories. On stage, a young squire travels through eras and shop windows, guided by a live sound artist, Monsieur Bruit, who crafts sonic landscapes worthy of an atelier using artisanal gestures and raw materials.
There’s no ostentation, only grace. No celebration, but play. Hermèstories succeeds in narrating the Hermès universe with lightness and depth, transforming luxury into theatrical language. Each object is a witness, each métier a voice. The maison’s sixteen savoir-faire – leather, silk, metal, glass – intertwine in a narrative that defies time, yet pulses with rhythm, irony, and poetry.
Act Two: the exhibition that whispers
After the performance, the audience is invited into the theatre’s foyer, where a quiet installation awaits. Discreet vitrines, warm lighting, authentic objects and archival images compose an intimate and precious path. It feels like stepping into the backstage of the fable just lived – seeing up close the bags, silks, buckles, and details that had come to life on stage.
Walking among those display cases, time seemed to slow. Each piece told a story of hands, gestures, and memory. And I thought: with this gesture, Hermès has done something rare – it staged its own soul, without rhetoric, with poetry.
A debut that leaves its mark
Hermèstories is not just a show: it’s a cultural gesture. A way of saying that luxury can be narrative, that theatre can speak of fashion, and that beauty – true beauty – doesn’t need to be explained. It simply needs to be lived.
Leaving the theatre, with the scent of leather still in the air and silk in my eyes, I thought: yes, even a zip can move you, if told with grace. And Hermès, once again, has surprised us. Not with a product, but with an experience.
Alessandro Trani
