RUE DU FAUBOURG SAINT-HONORÉ

Faye Toogood created a dramatic new site-specific installation for the Hermès flagship store in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, showcasing the house’s new haute jewellery collection, Enchaînements Libres. Building on Hermès designer Pierre Hardy’s disruptive take on refined jewellery, the Parisian boutique is invaded by monumental structures in a range of sculptural forms, from architectural grids of metallic mesh to raw volcanic shapes. Constructed from steel, aluminium and ruggedly formed fibreglass, these giant shapes – including ladder-shaped constructions alongside the stairwells – direct visitors’ eyes and attention upwards, towards the inner sanctum of the store. These incursions, echoed by scaled-down miniature interlopers within the display cabinets, become denser and more prevalent upon approaching the centrepiece of the installation: the Salon Rouge.

Photography: Christophe Coënon / Francois Lacour