Christophe Goineau: Thank you, I am great, I just came back from Greece, I really love it there.

I always say, the gods could choose any place to settle, and it wasn’t Paris. Maybe there is a reason for it.

Yes, I would not have imagined staying that long, but well, here I am, and it isn’t too bad (laughs). Even if I wanted, I would not have found any other company that could have given me all these opportunities, powerful freedom of creation, and such a high-level product. So, I’m the lucky one, I really found something that I like, Hermès is one of the most beautiful companies. Still, today, I’m very happy.

No, absolutely not. I was attending a business school before I started at Hermès, which was already a big international company back then in 1987, but obviously not as big as today; it counted about 1200 employees. Very quickly, I realized that the huge difference between Hermès and other brands was the product and the quality. I met so many passionate people who could talk about products for ages, and that is for a reason. I joined the silk department very soon; it was so small back then because we were selling mostly ties and very few items. At that time, Jean-Louis Dumas, our former CEO, was also in charge of the art direction, today, it is actually his son who took over. Dumas and I had a lot of meetings, and he liked the suggestions and ideas I was proposing, so our work relationship was very organic.

The possibilities to work with silk are endless in a way, you can experiment with its design, color, and shape in so many ways. If I had the chance, to work with it for the next 100 years, I would do that.

Silk, first, is quite a unique fabric, and it took me some time to learn about it. As you might know, it is naturally cold, but it immediately becomes warm when you put it on your skin. Also, it is hypoallergenic. So nobody, I mean, almost nobody, is reacting to silk. Then, one more very special thing is that it captures color like nothing else since its thread is transparent and very long. It is magic. We will probably find something in the future that is going to be equally beautiful, but for now, there really is a pure, appreciative connection to silk.

Silk is light sensitive, so if you leave it in the sun for too long, it will start to fade. But at Hermès, we work with a color that is quite robust and stays, it really goes inside the threads. I think it is actually one of the best jobs at Hermès, the coloration. We have trained people whose job is to create colors. If I were to change positions, I would do that. They create about 20 variations of one color to select the right one with the designer. It’s really incredible. Hermès is a house of colors. To create the different color variants, the artisans at Hermès refer to the house’s repertoire of nearly 75,000 silk samples and shades.

Yes. We sell it a lot, but since orange is a very intense Hermès color, people also love to go rather for a beautiful Hermès red. I think we are selling colors like no other brand, we really hold a big love for colors. For me talking about design, it is always about sharing joy and giving people a reason to be happy, colors play a big role for that.

Yes, it is the same as the gift of having a high sensitivity to listen to music. Some can really recognize the smallest changes. Véronique Nichanian, Artistic Director of Men’s Universe, is so good at choosing colors, she’s the master of coloration as well because for the ready to wear, she works so precisely with colors and color combinations. Sometimes it feels crazy when we think about how much time we spent on small details that probably no one will see.

Yes, I think sometimes they don’t know why there is a difference but once they start wearing it, they will feel the details even if they could not express it and this is the reward for us investing so much time into this.

Yes, it makes so much sense, it all goes back to a long time of working with colors and developing profound knowledge.

The model and values of craftsmanship that have always guided the house of Hermès encourage the careful and respectful use of raw materials.

Water is a fundamental and precious element in textile finishing, whether for the washing, dyeing or colour preparation process. We constantly innovate to optimize our use of water.

Yes, we once created a tie for a US teacher who was preparing to give his first class from a spaceship in outer space. He was always wearing ties when teaching on earth, and said he could not teach without a tie. So we designed a special piece made from one of our scarves and named it “Dream of Space.” We worked on this design together with NASA in order to follow their safety rules, such as the non-flammability of the fabric, etc., so we obviously could not use any silk or cashmere.

Also, I remember we created a tie for a steeplechase horse race in France. The Hermès team that was responsible for the decoration requested a tie for a horse, and that is what we did. We have really designed a few crazy things.

The first thing, I would say, is that there are two rules at Hermès: there is freedom of creativity, allowing me the ability to make creative decisions without boundaries. Of course, we discuss options with Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Artistic Director of Hermès, and Véronique Nichanian, Artistic Director of Men’s Universe, but we appreciate the fact that there is never only one way to go. The second rule is that all buyers are completely free to buy whatever they like. I think this supports a very healthy balance to keep a quite high standard of creativity, and every single shop can select what they are thinking is the best fit for them.

Another important element is that we are makers and not only retailers, and I think that’s a big difference if you compare it to some of our competitors: For example, if we work on a scarf, we start from one side, on which you have a thread of silk that we are weaving, we continue with the flat screen to then do the print, colors, and confection – we really process all the steps ourselves to make sure the product is done correctly. We are trying to put so many details in every single step – there are always shortcuts to get things done, but we trust our process. So, when I started at Hermès, I didn’t quite understand why everyone constantly spoke about quality since, for me, the company already had the best quality possible. But then, with time, I understood, quality is a daily task, you have to work every day to protect and ensure the best quality.

We manage every single step in-house, in Lyon, which is exceptional. Other brands outsource certain parts of production. At Hermès, we weave the silk, make the frame for the engraver that will define the coloration, print the silk, and make the final piece, whether it’s a scarf or tie. And every single step along the way has to be special, adding detail, upon detail, upon detail.

As we are always searching for the best quality and know-how, some of our cashmere products are made in Scotland or Nepal and knitwear in Germany or Italy. A few months ago, someone was asking me what exactly my job was, and I think it is so much about working with emotions. A gift, for example, is supposed to be an extension to express how deep your love is for someone. When someone opens the orange box, it really is a special moment that we share with our customer. This makes the relationship between Hermès and its customers very strong, but they will also have a very strong relationship with the product because they will remember the special occasion of the gift forever.

A 140 centimeter scarf that I gifted to a friend a few years ago. He is a biker, so we designed a scarf with a bike, a very futuristic thing. When I gifted it to him, he was skeptical, saying he would not wear any scarves, but then he saw it and was so happy, also knowing that this has been specifically made for him.

I think it is a quite general trend, how ties are being worn nowadays. The differences lie more in the choice of colors and design. For example, I would say that the US would rather go for bright colors, like bright red, that you will not find in Asia. In Europe, men go for more dark colors. One other trend though, we observed is that the US market strongly goes back to formal. During Covid, the sales of ties went down but recovered super quickly right after the pandemic.

In general, men are selecting more carefully because they want the tie to speak about them and their personality. It has to be connected to their soul and their character.

When I started joining the company, in the late 80s, the motivation behind buying a Hermès tie was to be part of something, more like an obligation. This has completely changed. Nowadays, you don’t have to wear ties anymore, you only do it if you feel liking doing it. The obligation has turned into a pleasure.

It depends on the product. For ties, we have mainly internal designers; in this case, it is Philippe Mouquet. He is working for the company for more than 30 years as well, mostly on the designs that I then select. We have a place called the fridge (laughs) in which we try to find the ingredients to make the best collection possible. For scarves, it is completely different. The first option is that I find an interesting designer, illustrator, or artist to suggest a collaboration. The second option would be the other way around: I am being sent a lot of portfolios, and I am trying to answer each and every one, because you really never know. Creation is sometimes like little flowers, you have to be careful because we can easily step on them. So, I am taking my time to consider all of them. And then there is the third way, which I love especially, it is a very Hermès way: doing things by chance, meaning you discover a new talent thanks to recommendations, or you coincidentally run into someone. This is so interesting, as it opens the door to your own creative processes through spontaneous influences.

I generally like to stick to a process in which I first talk with the men working in big cities to do something which is very contemporary as there is always a trend, but it is not easy to look at it when you are inside. When I go through Hermès archives from the 50s, 60s or 70s, I can feel that they were always en vogue, always on the trend of silhouettes, design and colors etc. It is important to understand what is going on these days.

Sometimes, when I reach out to collaborators whose work is really different from Hermès, they are very surprised. In fact, I think this is the interesting part about making a selection – which ultimately takes Hermès somewhere people are not expecting. Of course, the Hermès universe has a certain style, but within this universe, there is a lot of space to experiment. I try to find a good balance, I feel Hermès is a house of balance, between all our ingredients. I think this idea of balance is connected to the fact that we are not making a product for one season, nor do we dictate to our customers what to buy by going with certain trends only. Our work is like writing a book or a TV series: if you like the first season, you want to see the second season, but if the first season is too close to the second season, you get bored. But if you don’t recognize in the second season what you liked about the first one, you are lost. This is what makes our job so interesting, you always try to be in this sort of evolution rather than revolution.

Not really. Tie is a versatile object, close to the customer and brings out a lot of emotions and not depending on if you are a women or a men. A lot of women are buying men’s clothes and accessories.

Well, we have two different visions but in between, anything is possible. A lot of women actually are buying menswear and a lot of men are buying womenswear, such as scarves etc. Our customer has an autonomous choice and options to choose from, without us creating or suggesting something that we think is genderless. I don’t know if this will still be working in like 20 years but, so far it does.

A few years ago, we launched the double face silk, which is quite innovative. Currently, I’m working on adding natural, organic fabrics and fibers that are helpful for the way people are living now, meaning, for example, a scarf that does not crease, products that you can easily put into your washing machine, and so on. It won’t be specifically natural fabrics only; rather, it  might be about new ways of mixing fabrics in order to achieve our goals. Another topic that will become interesting is 3D printing, the new possibilities of screen printing, and how to improve it.

When I was a child, I was very inspired by the theatre world. I really wanted to play with light, music, clothes, atmosphere, and characters. As I grew up, it was spontaneous. I discovered the world of McQueen, Galliano and all these very theatrical designers. It was like an evidence, I started like that.

If I had to find some words to describe my work,

Also, narrative because I love to tell stories, and poetic, I hope. Colourful, joyful, but with sometimes a little touch of darkness.

Not really. We can find poetry everywhere, not only in books. Poetry is more about emotions. I’m more inspired by paintings, movies, or pictures than by books.

The link with Louise de Vilmorin and my immediate family is not this close. Of course, we have the same name, and she was a very inspiring, avant-garde, and feminist woman, with an immense talent and numerous amazing friends who are people I really love. It’s more a question of atmosphere because in the de Vilmorin family, there are a lot of artists and even in the different places where I spent my childhood, like my grandparents’ house, the decoration was very specific, with lots of colours and flowers, ‘Vilmorin’ is actually also the name of a flower species. I’m very lucky with my family heritage because it’s open and artistic. It’s not only Louise de Vilmorin. It’s a more global atmosphere.

The starting point of my different projects. I love drawing and it’s essential. Because when you draw a silhouette, for example, it can be very beautiful. But the body is not a real body, it can have exactly the volume you want. The challenge is to bring my drawings to life. And that’s my daily challenge for all my projects.

The inspiration for this collection was creativity in the darkest ways. It was a question of reflection on what I want to show in my work. We have some all-white looks, black looks, and colourful looks. As a designer, for my first show, it was very hard to find the precise things I wanted to present: the “A to Z” is because I struggled to know what I wanted to show at the time. Precisely because the last two years haven’t always been easy for me in terms of showing myself and clarifying my creativity, and my inspirations. This has been the most difficult part of creativity and I wanted to talk about it. My goal for future collections is to be more precise, but for this one that wasn’t the intention. I showed different concepts that are part of my world.

Yes, colours are very difficult to work with because you have to find the right ones. In the past I’ve used a lot of primary colours, it’s not very difficult because it’s red and yellow, it’s quite easy to work with and it works every time. I want to play with colours, but with more precise colours and create new combinations. It’s not easy, I need to do a lot of research and testing to create new and beautiful colour combinations. For this collection, I didn’t really know what I wanted to create with the colours. So, there are fewer colours than in the other collections.

The black suit of Inès de la Fressange and the last part with the Maggie Mauer white horse, because these two looks were the more difficult to make and I love them.

I launched my brand in my own name during COVID. I did some videos to present my collection. Later I was at Rochas and had the opportunity to create beautiful shows with a huge production. But this show was my first for my own brand. This means the production and the team were totally different, and I made a lot of things by myself, even for the show. So, it was of course a goal, and it was very emotional for me. I can’t wait for the next one.

My creative process for a collection or any other project, a video for example, is always the same. I imagine an empty stage and first I put in lights, then music. Music is like drawing, it’s one of the starting points of the project because music is more than a source of inspiration for me. It helps me to create the atmosphere and the story of the project or collection. Music, lighting, and then I imagine a bit of set design to create something simple. I start with the set and imagine the silhouettes, the different characters. At the end, I put on some clothes and it’s always the same process.

For this collection, I wanted to tell the story of a quest, an adventure. The location of the show inspired me because it looked a bit like a ghost city, full of concrete. I wanted to create characters who would walk through the forest for a fortnight. So, I imagined all the wet looks, with the hair close to the face. It’s the story of an adventure, as if they were walking through this ghost town. The first name of the collection was ‘Les Vagabonds’. The collection has a lot of rough and frayed edges, and too long clothes that the models must lift to be able to walk. The story was about freedom and adventure, for the swan and the horse for example, which can also be found in the music, through horse noises of all kinds.

The first sculpture was the horse, and it was just a vision I had of a white dress with a big horse on its head. There’s no specific inspiration. Sometimes ideas just come, when you’re walking, and you have a vision, when your spirit shows you something. Later I had the idea of the swans.

Of course, there are some links. For example, you can link this collection with my first full black collection. It’s not an intention, and I think it’s natural and important to build a DNA, to have links between your collections. For this latest collection, there are three distinct acts. The first one is a white part. It’s like a blank sheet of paper, when you start to create something, and you don’t know how to start. Then you have the more coloured part with the prints. This is the craziest part of creation, when you don’t know how to stop creating. Creation with no limits. I deleted lots of looks from this part of the collection; five looks weren’t in the show in the end. The third and final act is black, more sophisticated and couture, followed by the white final look. It’s the story of a creative process.

Not really, it’s a very different project. The dress is inspired by my sister. It’s not part of the story of the show, but I think this dress is a source of inspiration for my next show. It was so nice to make this dress. This dress is full of joy with big flowers, it’s for a wedding, so it was complicated to do something dark for her. I love this dress, and I really want to continue this story for the next project. 

Movement is one of the most important things in a silhouette and in a collection, especially on a show. I love moments where I can play with movement – for example when I was doing videos with dancers, it was pleasant. Movement is important, for the emotional part of the show because it’s very close to music, but it’s first a question of fabric. In the collection there are a lot of very light little silk dresses. I love the movement of silk.

It’s very personal, it depends on the person. This is the most important thing when you buy clothes: you want to feel strong in your body and proud of the way you look.

It’s not really an intention because for me, it’s just very natural. In my process of creating a look, I need to put it on me and live in my apartment with the look to see how it moves, how I can use the sleeves and those volumes.

From my point of view, we need to see men in couture looks because in real life, I’m sure there are lots of men who wear couture. I think it’s very modern to put men in couture shows. And this season we’ve seen a lot of men on the catwalk. It’s not an intention. It’s not a political gesture, it’s just something natural for me.

I’m at the beginning of my career because I launched my brand 3 years ago. We had the Rochas part for two years, and my brain was a bit in standby. I learned a lot during these three years, especially at Rochas, more specifically about the commercial part. I want to take my brand forward and create, not necessarily the ready-to-wear part, but I want to see people in the street wearing my clothes. This collection has a beautiful potential in a more commercial way. I really want to work on this part. 

I love to work with artists. They can be painters, singers, actors, or actresses. For my brand, I want to continue to work with different artists. I love to be surprised every day, and I don’t know what might happen. I don’t have any specific objectives; I just want to do my best with my brand and make beautiful creations.

In a close future,