Inside the Palais d'Iena, the show venue for the Hermès Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection—the same that it has been for years now—it was a trippy sight. Mirrors were fixed parallel to the ground and elevated on beams, making it a rather confusing walk through the space. The separation between the mirrored surfaces and a reality that one could walk through was blurred, setting the stage for a collection that reflected a sense of escape from reality and how things weren't really as they seemed to be.

Artistic director Véronique Nichanian is already a master at manipulating materials and fabrics to be more than they're often perceived to be. For Spring/Summer 2026, she raised the bar yet again with even more illusionary uses of materials. For example, fringed scarves were a key accessory that were present on a number of looks. They were tied rather loosely with an insouciant attitude and appeared like weathered silk, but in actuality, they were crafted from thin calfskin or suede and imprinted with the Maison's Éperon d’or motif. In another look, a butter yellow shirt was embedded with the same motif on top of its leather base.

Being known for its leather craftsmanship, the Maison's ready-to-wear did not shy away from leather outerwear, even for a collection that's targeted for the summer months. It's here that the Maison's lauded craftsmanship truly shone. On a number of looks, leather strips were painstakingly interlaced to form an openwork fabric, essentially breathing new life to leather ready-to-wear pieces. It's more impressive iterations were pieces that featured openwork trims where the leather was lasercut to allow for the weaving to be incorporated.

But at the heart of it, the Hermès Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection was a travel-ready collection. Made for adventuring and escaping into the sunset, the pieces weren't particularly precious and the bags deftly crafted to be stylish accompaniments.

The fit: Nichanian continued her current favourite menswear trope of a more top-heavy silhouette. Unlike her contemporaries this season who have mostly chosen to bare legs, she opted for roomy cut, pleated trousers. The colour palette too was kept relatively muted and grounded with a focus on neutrals the likes of browns, greys and butter yellow, with a refreshing burst of green.

The construction of a number of the pieces were reminiscent of Hermès menswear collections of recent years, but remixed in terms of materials and treatments. The shirting for the collection however, were perhaps the strongest it's ever been in recent years. The foundation of the shirting was kept super traditional with French cuffs, side seam gussets as well as a box pleat at the back. The contemporary twist was in the collarless design that dips into a V-neck—almost like a baseball jersey. It's especially stunning in the green and crafted from linen as the perfect summer shirt.

The details: Now, while Hermès bags have often been rather classic with the usual suspects given the spotlight in seasons past, this time around, new renditions deserve proper attention. The Garden Party Voyage, for example, was refreshed with a netting print that added such vitality and contemporary quality to a beloved staple. Even the HAC emblazoned with the Fast Poudré print—essentially a blurred out image of a racehorse—was a beautiful masterpiece up close. Étrivière totes were blown up, bigger than ever before, and adapted to double up in size should the need arises.

Three new designs were included this season and each crafted with that undeniable Hermès sensibility. A personal favourite is a massive shoulder bag that looked like a sailor duffel and affixed with the same fastening mechanism as the Picotin. Stripped from the Hermès archive was a bowling bag-shaped design meant for travelling, with its wide zipper opening that ends with a locking mechanism at the side. And finally, a clever combination of a massive travel bag where the exterior can be detached and turned into suit bags. Genius.

Three exceptional looks: Look 18 with that deliciously slouchy leather jacket and a pop of blush scarf; the combination of the openwork leather tank with butter yellow trousers in look 27; and look 48's stunning sweater that I want to wear right now.

The takeaway: It might look like the same ol' Hermès menswear collection, but the details are the ones that spoke the loudest.

View the full Hermès Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection in the gallery below.