Hermès celebrated the opening of a Palo Alto boutique last Thursday, May 17, with a cocktail and special event. Located in the Stanford Shopping Center, it’s the first new store for the luxury house in over seven years
Parisian architecture agency RDAI designed the space to be open and airy, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows in the front and back, as well as a generous James Turell-esque central skylight.
Photo by Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography.
Annexes devoted to Hermès’ home, women’s men’s, equestrian, and jewelry collections surround the heart of the store. There, the brand’s tech offerings shine, including a vitrine of apple watches, a commissioned digital artwork by Eric Vernhes, and a new digital silk scarf table, giving clients the option of seeing the complete offerings of patterns and colorways.
Special to the store are two new bags: the “Endless Road” Haut à Courroies in beautiful blues and greens, made from 42 pieces of hand-stitched leather depicting a California roadway in Pop art style; and a Plume bag with two zippers featuring interior pockets for a laptop, iPad, iPhone, and more.
Jony Ive and Pierre-Alexis Dumas Photo by Drew Altizer
Given the store’s location in the heart of Silicon Valley, there are obvious nods to the tech industry, as well as an embrace of traditional craft and the handmade, perhaps best illustrated in the store windows created by Eva Jospin. The French artist created towering installations of forests in cardboard, inspired by the natural terrain of Northern California.
Jospin’s chosen low-tech medium provided inspiration for the store opening afterparty, where Hermès pulled off its typical transformational magic, creating a cardboard fantasy complete with city skylines, woodsy-campsites, and a Parisian-style café around a fountain filled with jumping fish. Performances took place throughout the night, announced by a towering cuckoo clock, and attendees like Jony Ive, Axel Dumas, Eric du Halgouet, Olivier Fournier, Wilfried Guerrand, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Charlotte David, Vanessa Hood, Sako Fisher, Anne-Sophie Deneve, Allison Speer, and more had the chance to have their portrait painted by artists Tobias Gutmann and Joey Yu.
Photo by Frank Oudeman.
“We look forward to offering a warm welcome and exceptional service to a new community of clients from the surrounding area, including entrepreneurs and innovators engaged in the fast-evolving technology industry headquartered in this dynamic region of the country,” said USA President & C.E.O, Robert B. Chavez.
