The grand opening of Hermès’s new 20,250-square-foot Maison, just one block north of the house’s former flagship store, had everything a good party should have: an original musical performance across three acts, a Katz’s food truck, a diner with caviar on the menu, and Martha Stewart.
To celebrate the brand’s location at 706 Madison — which looks more like the multi-floor home of your wealthiest friend rather than a place of commerce — Hermès took guests on an immersive journey.
For me, that journey began at the door, as I made my way past sets of intricate Hermès scarves (some made specifically for the opening) and a room filled with accessories galore: Hermès hats and gloves and plates. As I went up the winding marble staircase, I could already hear singing.
A group of performers decked out in pastel costumes, one in a blazer emblazoned with the phrase “it has to be perfect,” had begun belting out the first part of their act of the musical Love Around the Block. It somehow reminded me of Don’t Worry Darling (though, to be honest, everything seems to do so these days). Across the way, Marjorie Harvey smiled and swayed to the music with a mini–Kelly bag in her hand and a set of Loewe balloon heels on her feet. She spotted a fellow fashionista wearing a beige Hermès trench coat across the way and mouthed “Love your outfit” to her, to which she mouthed back, “I love yours.” The exchange was warm and kind. Celebs — they’re just like us but clad in clothes worth enough to pay off a mortgage.
As the performance went on, I tried to keep up with the storyline but kept getting distracted by all the Hermès around me. Something was happening between a couple named Max and Joanna. Someone lost a ring, and someone in the script said the words “You’re either a suitcase person or a furniture person,” though, I might argue, it’s more likely most people are both. But I digress.
As Act One came to a close, we were ushered down another smooth spiral staircase, this one much bigger than the one before. I looked up to see what seemed to be a never-ending passageway: a staircase to Hermès heaven, I suppose. Employees held signs above their heads that said “Follow Me,” and we did, blindly, out the doors of the new location and into the street, where the house had shut down an entire block for the party. Out here in the cool fall air, food trucks wrapped in custom Hermès branding served goodies like pastrami, tacos, cheesecake, and dumplings, to name a few. I split off from the crowd for a brief moment to grab a crustless cheesecake bite from Junior’s. I was one of the few…