Home Sweet Home
Ever fantasised about living inside a boutique? Specifically, an Hermes boutique? Well, we certainly have. Imagine being ensconced in a sleek space conceptualised by Parisian architecture firm RDAI. Picture, if you will, being surrounded 24/7 by the finest porcelains, the most exquisitely handcrafted wooden furniture, and the most beautifully wrought leather accessories. Everyday objects, elevated to an art.
Perhaps we weren’t the only ones with this fantasy. Perhaps the weight of our collective reveries transcended space and time, and stimulated the folks at Hermes to satiate our desires. Because come October, Hermes will transform its Liat Towers boutique into a space filled with items from its home universe. The exhibition, called Through the Walls, will run from 7 to 29 October.
In typical Hermes fashion, Through the Walls won’t be a simple showcase of objects for the home. Under the artistic direction of Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry – an architect and art book publisher by trade, respectively – the space will be carved into mini architectural sites, with a different scenography at every turn.
Within those dioramas, the objects take on a life of their own. Furniture pieces act out everyday scenes, while porcelain is displayed in a manner that seemingly defies order. The exhibition’s soundtrack is composed of the din of everyday domesticity. Think glasses clinking, crockery chinking, and drinks being poured into receptacles.
And there’s no forgetting Hermes’ penchant for mirth and whimsy. Peek through a window from the street, and glimpse a doll’s house. It’s a world in miniature, a metaphor for the installation itself.
This new homeware focus comes on the back of the Hermes’ massive store revamp in 2016. When it reopened last May, a bigger space was devoted to furniture and home accessories.
The Maison isn’t the only luxury house of late to turn the spotlight on its home collection. This month, Gucci also rolled out its first-ever homeware collection, while Tiffany will unveil its first home line under its new artistic director come November. Home, clearly, is where the art is.
Hermes
Through the Walls
7 – 29 October 2017
541 Orchard Road
Liat Towers
Singapore
