Hermès Unveils Expansive New Williamsburg Boutique

The spirit of the Faubourg St. Honoré gained a foothold in North Brooklyn as Hermés opened an expanded boutique in a space that honored the neighborhood’s industrial and artistic legacy while savoring its current role as a high-end destination that maintains its creativity. Located at 130 Berry Street, the new boutique offers roughly 5,000 square feet of retail space, significantly larger than the former temporary one at 91 North 6th Street, offering room across two light-filled floors for all 16 of the maison’s métiers. Hermès is notably putting down roots in Brooklyn as it replaces the interim outpost with a permanent one.

RDAI, a Parisian architecture firm, conceived the spacious shop in a contemporary spirit. Much of the décor is in understated wood tones. The exterior, meanwhile, is framed by five distinct brick façades that reference the surrounding stuctural mood and enclose a courtyard with an American sweetgum tree. Inside, high ceilings, raw brick, gray terrazzo, and metalwork take their cues from Brooklyn lofts and workshops.

The two floors begin with silk, fashion, fragrance, beauty, and women’s and men’s shoes on the ground level. The home collections occupy a more residential setting, where woven leather straps, cotton fibers, and baby-blue shoelaces form tactile wall treatments. Nearby, a double-height brick mural rises beside a staircase inspired by New York fire escapes and finished with leather-wrapped handrails.

Upstairs, jewelry and watches are displayed in an intimate salon surrounded by handwoven, earth-toned walls, while men’s and women’s ready-to-wear is presented on oak flooring. The route continues through the equestrian collections to leather goods, where natural light and patterned rugs animate the space. Throughout the boutique, geometric carpets and richly textured surfaces soften the brick and metal palette.

The art program incorporates works from the Émile Hermès Collection and the Hermès Collection of Photographs, including photographs by Bill Jacobson and Janet Delaney, as well as works from Philippe Weisbecker’s Structures series, which examines early-20th-century industrial architecture. For the inaugural windows, Antoine Platteau, artistic director of the displays at Hermès’s 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré store, collaborated with locally based artist Christina Zimpel on a colorful scene of women, their look-alike dogs, and Hermès objects gathered in celebration.

Opening a lasting space in Williamsburg is quite forward thinking for the parent of the Birkin and the Kelly. While Gucci and Bottega Veneta previously held pop-ups there, Hermès is the first couture-caliber brand to establish an intentionally long-term home in the North Brooklyn enclave. It is across the street from Le Labo, down the block from Byredo, and a short distance from the Bedford Avenue Diptyque, but these are all fragrance and lifestyle brands. The new Hermès offers a pioneering retail experience to savor.