Welcome to New York

As Hermès celebrates the opening of a new Madison Avenue flagship, designer Pierre Hardy reflects on how the city has shaped his work for the legendary house.

- By Adrienne Gaffney

Pierre Hardy could have been a professional dancer. But in choosing an alternate route that led him to become the creative director of shoes and fine jewelry for Hermès, he believes he’s been able to achieve many of the same aims. “What I did with dance, and what I’m doing now, is help people to play with their own bodies and give them accessories to produce what they want for themselves,” he says. “A better image, in a way. To be yourself, but better.”

If that vision of self-betterment via fashion feels like a very American sentiment, chalk it up to the designer’s stateside sensibilities. While Hardy is a native Parisian, he’s long enjoyed a romance with New York, splitting his time between the two. He sings the praises of his former Chelsea abode, located in the heart of the gallery district. “When I was there just crawling around for five blocks, in two hours I could see the most unbelievable show of modern art,” he says. Work is underway on a new New York home for Hardy, but if he had his way, he’d be living in the Brutalist building at 75th and Madison that formerly housed the Met Breuer museum. “I think it’s perfection,” he says.