Paris Fashion Week: Hermes Fall/Winter 2010 Collection

2:20 pm Contributed by JW

Hermes stepped back from the fashion fray on Saturday by delivering a collection of timeless pieces that willfully snubbed trendiness.

The storied label's menswear offerings for fall-winter 2010-2011 made nearly no concessions to the fads that have swept other Paris catwalks, including proposing slouchy longjohns as a stand-in for pants and relieving blazers of their sleeves. Hermes' menswear designer, Veronique Nichanian, served up to-die-for suits with straight-leg pants remarkable only for their perfect cut and sweaters that retired French soccer international Lilian Thuram — a front row guest — said he was already coveting.

The rest of the pieces — which included slim overcoats worn with leather belts, velvet jackets in slate and mauve and cashmere V-neck sweaters — were timeless in a manner befitting a house that has been forging a reputation for handmade excellence since its start as a saddle maker in 1837.