Hermès designer Nichanian: a woman in a man's world

PARIS, France - Frenchwoman Veronique Nichanian, the artistic director for Hermès, stands out in the fashion world as one of the only women to create men's styles.

That she has been doing it for 26 years is another rarity.

"I always feel the same anxiety," she admitted ahead of her catwalk show Saturday in Paris. "But the enthusiasm is always solid," she told AFP with a smile.

She says Hermès' then boss Jean-Louis Dumas told her when he tapped her in 1988: "Manage this like your little enterprise. You have carte blanche."

Nichanian was previously with Nino Cerruti, who had hired her straight out of design school.

The diminutive designer says she had to "work harder" and "be determined" as a woman in a man's world and was "pretty proud" of her longevity.

"It was a pretty macho milieu and the men didn't expect a woman to tell them what to do," she recalls.

Nichanian came into the work "by chance, at first. Then I discovered a rigour in men's fashion, as a person who is not a fan of unnecessary details."

The 50-something designer said she had wanted to work in fashion since she was an adolescent, noting that while her parents were not in the business they were "very elegant people".

She described the "discreet chic" of her father of Armenian origin, and how her mother and grandmother had Hermès handbags and scarves.

The elegant brunette with sparkling eyes said she draws inspiration from myriad sources - "in the street... in what I read... at shows."

But with Hermès, whose sales of men's ready-to-wear enjoyed double-digit growth last year, "it's a continuing story".

While there are not radical changes from one show to the next, "the wardrobe gets richer from collection to collection," she says.

"Some cuts don't change at all, or only by millimetres."

And since Hermès clothes tend to be pricy, men will not stop wearing them after the season is up, she said.

"I've looked at collections from 20 years ago and am ashamed of none of them... You could still wear them (today)."

No 'ego problems'

When Nichanian, who rose to artistic director for all of Hermès's menswear in 2008, starts work on a new collection, she first considers the colours and the fabrics.

Because Hermès is a luxury house, "we can afford the most beautiful materials" whether from France, Italy or Japan, she said, describing her style as a blend of fabrics with attention to detail, as well as the line.

Nichanian coquettishly described how she might line coat pockets with lambskin "whose sensuality will be felt only by the man wearing the coat" - like a "secret" between designer and customer.

When she visits Hermès stores, she says, of course there are wealthy customers, but also "young men who save money" in the long run by buying stylish, durable clothes.

If Nichanian had to name two essential items in a man's wardrobe, they would be "a beautiful navy blue flannel jacket" and anything in leather.

She said she was not considering setting up her own fashion house.

"That would not do more for my creativity. ... Here it is truly Veronique Nichanian. And I don't have ego problems."