At Hermès, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski Reimagines the Dress in Los Angeles

Hermès Chapter Two: Where Ballet Meets the California Dream

On a warm Thursday evening in Los Angeles, Hermès creative director Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski unveiled her latest Chapter Two collection, and it was nothing short of a poetic reimagining of what the house of Hermès can look and feel like. Moving away from the structured precision that has long defined luxury French fashion, Vanhee-Cybulski offered something more intimate, more lyrical, and perhaps more personal than anything she has presented before. The result was a collection that felt deeply alive — one that breathed with the openness of California air and the disciplined grace of classical ballet.

A New Chapter for Hermès Womenswear

The concept of a "Chapter Two" is itself significant. It signals not a departure from the founding values of Hermès — craftsmanship, quality, and a deep respect for materials — but rather an evolution. Vanhee-Cybulski has always approached her role at the house with a measured thoughtfulness, and this collection represents a maturation of her vision. She seems to be asking a quiet but essential question: what does it mean for a woman to dress with both freedom and intention?

The answer arrived in the form of dresses — long, fluid, and almost weightless. Garments that moved as the wearer moved, that responded to the body rather than constraining it. This is not a small gesture coming from a house historically associated with equestrian precision and architectural tailoring. It is, in fact, a radical softness.

Ballet as a Design Language

One of the most compelling threads running through the Chapter Two collection is its reference to ballet. This is not ballet in the obvious sense — there are no tutus, no pink satin ribbons, no literal stage costumes. Instead, Vanhee-Cybulski has drawn from the underlying philosophy of the art form: the idea that rigorous training and discipline ultimately give birth to a movement that appears effortless.

The silhouettes echo this principle. Wrap-style bodices recall the structure of a dancer's practice wear, while skirts that pool and drift at the hem suggest the controlled momentum of a pirouette caught mid-spin. Fabrics in soft crepes, silk charmeuse, and delicate chiffon reinforced this sensibility, each chosen for how it falls and flows rather than how it holds a shape. The craftsmanship behind each piece is unmistakably Hermès — the seaming impeccable, the finishing invisible — yet the impression is one of natural, almost accidental beauty.

• Wrap bodices inspired by dancers' rehearsal wear
• Skirts designed to move with the wearer's natural gait
• Soft, fluid fabrics including silk charmeuse and chiffon
• Muted, earthy tones alongside pale blush and ivory
• Refined leather accents that nod to Hermès heritage

Los Angeles as Creative Landscape

Choosing Los Angeles as the backdrop for this presentation was not incidental. The city carries a particular energy — expansive, sun-drenched, and defined by a culture that prizes ease and individuality above rigid formality. In many ways, the spirit of California runs counter to the traditional codes of Parisian haute fashion, and that tension proved to be extraordinarily productive for Vanhee-Cybulski.

She seems to have absorbed the city's atmosphere into her design process, allowing the warmth, the light, and the relaxed confidence of the West Coast to soften the edges of her collection. The palette reflected this geography: warm sands, dusty terracottas, faded sage, and the pale gold of late afternoon California sunshine. These were colors that looked as though they had been bleached gently by months of Pacific light, organic and unhurried.

At the same time, Los Angeles is a city of performers, of people who understand the relationship between a body and an audience, between clothing and self-presentation. This awareness informed the collection's theatricality — subtle though it was. Every dress felt as though it knew it was being watched, and responded with dignity rather than spectacle.

The Dress Reimagined as a Statement of Strength

Perhaps the most important conversation happening within Chapter Two is about what the dress means in 2025. For decades, the dress has been pulled in competing directions within fashion — sometimes dismissed as passive, other times elevated as the ultimate expression of femininity. Vanhee-Cybulski sidesteps this argument entirely by treating the dress not as a symbol but as a structure.

Her dresses are built with clear architectural intention, even as they appear effortless. The draping is considered. The lengths are precise. The proportions are deliberate. These are clothes made for a woman who knows exactly who she is and chooses softness not because it is expected of her, but because it is powerful on her terms. There is confidence embedded in every hem.

Hermès Heritage Woven Into Every Detail

Even as Vanhee-Cybulski pushed toward a new expressive territory, the collection remained unmistakably anchored in the Hermès universe. Leather details — belts, bag straps, subtle trim work — appeared throughout as quiet reminders of the house's origins. The craftsmanship was at the level one expects from Hermès: invisible yet extraordinary, like a performance so technically perfect it looks easy.

Accessories played a supporting role rather than a dominant one, which itself felt like a statement. The clothes were allowed to speak first.

What Chapter Two Means for the Future of the House

Collections like Chapter Two suggest that Hermès under Vanhee-Cybulski is willing to take genuine creative risks — not the showy risks of spectacle, but the quieter, more meaningful risk of sincerity. By embracing fluidity, ballet's graceful discipline, and the open spirit of California, she has expanded the emotional vocabulary of one of fashion's most storied houses.

For followers of luxury fashion, this presentation in Los Angeles will likely be remembered as a turning point — the moment Hermès womenswear fully committed to softness as a form of strength. Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski has not reinvented Hermès. She has done something far more interesting: she has allowed it to breathe.