After eight years of planning, the French luxury label Hermès is now open for business at its new flagship store in New York City.
Last week, I joined hundreds of others to celebrate the opening of Hermès Maison Madison - a 20,250-square-foot, five-floor store carrying the full range of Hermès products and collections. The celebration featured a tour of the space, a three-part musical commissioned for the event, food and drinks, followed by dancing at the former flagship, which was transformed into an all-orange speakeasy. It was definitely a fun and memorable party - leave it to Hermès.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It was a beautiful evening for being out in New York City. This was my view looking west on 57th street in Manhattan. I posted this photo on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 – I hope you follow me.
In the window of the new Hermès flagship, one could see dozens of the iconic orange-hued boxes.
The store features a smooth and curved stone staircase. Kevin Sharkey, who took many of these photos, captured this image looking up all the way to the fifth floor. An adjacent 49-foot-high wall was decorated as a vertical gallery with paintings and equine themed photographs. Follow Kevin’s Instagram @seenbysharkey.
Looking down, there were beautiful speckled terrazzo floors.
Here is a view of the high ceilings and decorated curved walls.
The store is comprised of a series of salons, giving it a more intimate and special feeling for customers. Here I am in front of the beauty items on the first level. This floor also features jewelry, silk scarves, and Hermès perfume.
I stopped for a quick photo with Hermès VP of Press and Influence, Michael Carl.
There was a musical performance, “Love Around the Block,” where actors sang and danced while wrapping orange Hermès boxes through the store.
The first of the three-part show was performed indoors.
Actors performed in the aisles as guests toured the store’s clothing, accessories, furniture, and homewares.
The costumes were colorful and quite direct in its messaging.
On this wall, there was a scarf designed after artist Josef Albers’ “Interaction of Color: Homage to the Square” painting.
I admired this turkey scarf hanging nearby.
Colorful belts were also artfully displayed.
… Along with many cashmere blankets and throws. This front design is from their Parcours de Sangles Collection.
It matches this Parcours de Sangles pillow.
Here is another beautiful geometric blanket by Hermès.
After the first act of the performance, guests were instructed to head outdoors for Act II. Several streets were closed to traffic just for the event.
Several food trucks were on hand, offering an assortment of dinner bite options such as pizza, tacos, cheesecake, pies, pretzels, burgers, hot dogs, fries, dumplings and falafel – one can find all sorts of food in New York City.
The final act was held at the old Hermès location, which was turned into an all-orange nightclub for the evening. Here I am on the stairs of the former store. It was a fun event and a very interesting way to celebrate the store’s opening. The store officially opened for business this week, so plan a stop at Hermès Maison Madison the next time you’re in New York City.