Aboard the Hermès Odyssey: Display windows that recreate the magic of travel

Energetic colours and a slew of chic, timeless objects line the insides of the Hermès India festive windows for 2020, created by architect and designer Rooshad Shroff who has been representing and designing the French luxury brand’s displays since 2014. Exhibited in Hermès India stores in New Delhi and Mumbai, the annual window displays for the year aim to celebrate the sense of liberty associated with travelling, by recreating the beauty of the outdoors in them; to capture the nostalgia we carry for the freedom that journeys bring; to uplift spirits and endorse positivity, inspired by the ageless beauty and function of Hermès products.

Each year, a different theme is selected for the French fashion house's festive windows, as a creative catalyst and platform to collaborate with artists and designers and to display the house and its works in new light. This year, Hermès is dedicated to the theme of ‘innovation'. The brand remains committed to its creative past by tying in their momentum and spontaneity to their innovative, ever evolving spirit. The cornerstone of innovation for the house is artisanal know-how and a fertile imagination that goes beyond the ordinary and grounds itself in functionality, realised in their objects as well their windows designs from around the world.

Hermès stores across countries interpret the theme with their windows, aligning their ideas, concepts, collections and designs to develop according to the same. Once the display design is finalised, timeless Hermès objects are staged and included within the windows to give them purpose and bring them to life.

Playing with the theme, the display windows that frame the stores entrance, invite onlookers to indulge in the charm of life and its proceedings aboard The Hermès Odyssey, a luxury train where viewers are transported to an era of bygone glamour, while contemporary Hermès products propped inside pull them back into the present. The Hermès Odyssey passes through stone tunnels or rides above fields of grass and beds of multi-coloured tulips, taking viewers to magical destinations of hope, joy and love.

Varieties and hues of wood, metal, paper and faux grass, along with vibrant colours such as green, blue, red and hints of amber and gold inform these oriels, and do so to celebrate the beauty of the outdoors. The displays capture a hint of bohemian romanticism, with a ticket counter, train schedule board, first class seats by a window and other such whimsical representations of luxury train travel, conjuring wistful traces of the outdoors.

Time to travel virtually, open the windows and celebrate a new odyssey of hope...