It is hard to find another fashion house that so consistently blends the worlds of fashion and art. For years, Hermès has treated its shop windows as a space for the imagination, transforming them every six months into three-dimensional installations that straddle the line between design, craftsmanship and art. The latest instalment in this story has just opened in Warsaw and Prague. The project was conceived by the LUDISM studio, founded by NOKE Architects and Ola Niepsuj, and the teams responsible for its execution.
The new installation ties in with Hermès’ global theme for this year – ‘Venture Beyond’. The slogan, which refers to crossing established boundaries and stepping outside familiar patterns, has been translated into a spatial narrative full of movement, colour and unexpected forms.
“Whenever we passed Hermès shop windows in London, Paris or Milan, we always thought: ‘Someone on the other side is thinking exactly as we are.’ Today, we are the ones standing on the other side of the glass. For us, collaborating with this brand is a great adventure and a joy in creating alongside people who respect art, craftsmanship and an original approach,” emphasise Piotr Maciaszek and Karol Pasternak of NOKE Architects.
Where two worlds meet
For Ola Niepsuj, the collaboration with Hermès has become a natural convergence of two visual languages. The artist, known for her distinctive illustrations, collages and posters, has long observed the way in which the French fashion house constructs its displays.
“If someone asked me which brand impresses me in terms of communication, I would name Hermès without hesitation. Fantasy, wit and an almost childlike joy in play have long been evident behind their shop windows. It’s a fascinating paradox: unbridled frivolity stands in contrast to the solemnity of their products, though that same wit often winks at us from the details of a scarf. Whenever I passed their displays, I’d think: ‘How I’d love to design something for them one day!’. “Joy, magic and an intellectual twist are exactly what I myself incorporate into my illustrations, collages and posters. My aesthetic and Hermès’s are, in essence, the same language,” admits the artist.
The stork soars beyond the horizon
The stork – a symbol deeply rooted in Central European culture – became the central figure of the installation. Its annual journey between Europe and Africa served as the starting point for a story about crossing borders, the changing of the seasons and the ceaseless journey.
“At LUDISM, we are always looking for points of connection between ancient legends and contemporary design. In our shop windows in Warsaw and Prague, we have created a sculptural home for the storks. And who better than our Polish stork to transcend horizons, connect the seasons and continents, and speak of beginnings and endings? And who weaves a nest with the same precision with which Hermès weaves its iconic Picnic Bag?” explains Ola Niepsuj.
The design process took around a year. The creators followed in the footsteps of the stork’s migration, translating elements of Slavic heritage into a contemporary spatial language. The bird became not only the central figure of the set design, but also a guide to the Venture Beyond concept.
“In my work as an illustrator, I am constantly looking for ways to create worlds and invite the viewer into them. Ensuring that the entire composition is completely immersive is a key feature of Hermès’s window displays,” adds Niepsuj.
Cubist theatre
It was clear from the outset that the figures in the shop windows would not merely be decorative objects. They were intended to function like actors on a stage, establishing a connection with the person standing on the other side of the glass.
“When work began, I knew from the outset that the figures had to function like actors on a theatre stage. I was keen to build a genuine, authentic connection with the viewer. The whole team translated the concept into a series of precise scale models and working prototypes. We constructed the characters based on a combination of seemingly contrasting qualities: geometric forms enter into dialogue with organic ones, deep volumes with flat accents, and raw, rough textures with perfectly smooth surfaces” – explains the illustrator.
Cubism served as the inspiration for this visual language. Niepsuj drew, amongst other things, on the work of Georges Braque and the ceramic forms and paper sculptures of Pablo Picasso, striking a balance between representational art and abstraction.
“I drew on the principles of Cubism. I was inspired by Braque’s paintings, as well as Picasso’s ceramic forms and paper sculptures, striking a balance between representational art and pure abstraction,” explains the artist.
The horizon was therefore not treated as a simple line separating the sky from the earth. It became a meeting point for opposites – above and below, warmth and cold, East and West.
At the same time, the project had to meet Hermès’s characteristic display requirements. The objects were intended to give the impression of being light, almost floating in the air, creating an atmosphere of magic and a sense of suspension between reality and the imaginary world.
The greatest challenge was translating the small-scale models – which initially could even fit inside a shoe box – into life-size display cases.
“3D modelling, visualisations, colour tests and the preparation of object models were the responsibility of Monika Zajk from NOKE. The clash between a whimsical theatrical world and the laws of physics required compromises. We were supported in this by the teams from Formy Scenografia and Spółdzielnia Scenograficzna,” says Piotr Maciaszek.
Glass, wickerwork and light
Materials play an important role in the project. The creators combined traditional craftsmanship with contemporary forms, building the set design around the contrast between bent glass and basketry.
“The shop windows in Warsaw and Prague had to breathe in the horizon. We built them on the contrast between two disciplines: unique, bent and fused glass, which refracts light like the sky, and traditional Czech-Polish wickerwork. This served as the link tying together Hermès’s craftsmanship with our local tradition,” explains Karol Pasternak.
One of the most demanding stages of the project was the glass testing. Hundreds of transparency tests, carried out by Grzegorz Olczak from Białystok, enabled us to find the right balance between the material, light and the scale of the individual elements. The aim was to conceal the technical aspects of the project and create the impression that the entire composition had come into being almost organically.
The whole is complemented by fabrics produced by the Polish company Davis Fabrics. The patterns were designed individually for each of the display windows by Ola Niepsuj, ensuring that the installations in Warsaw and Prague share a common language whilst not being identical.
Night-time installation
The installation of the window displays also required precise logistics. Dozens of elements had to be transported to the two cities and installed within a very short timeframe – between the shops closing and reopening.
“Once everything was ready, all that remained was to transport dozens of components to Prague and Warsaw and carry out the installation in collaboration with Malwina Rytych from Window Stories and the Hermès team,” explains Karol Pasternak.
The installation work took place at night and required close coordination between numerous teams. By the morning, when the boutiques opened, the finished set design had to be in place.
The result is an installation that blurs the line between a commercial display and a work of art. It combines illustration, set design, architecture, craftsmanship and object design, translating local symbols into a language recognisable beyond Poland and Central Europe.
“For us as the NOKE and LUDISM team, this collaboration is proof that our local symbols, Slavic sensibility and craftsmanship possess a universal power capable of enchanting the whole world,” concludes Piotr Maciaszek.
Design Team: Karol Pasternak, Piotr Maciaszek, Ola Niepsuj, Monika Zajk, Hermes design team,
Partners: Olczak Szkło, Davis Fabrics, Formy Scenografia, Spółdzielnia Scenograficzna,
Hermes coordinator: Window Stories by Malwa
Photography: Piotr Maciaszek
