Here's a Hermès Collaboration You Were Never Meant to See
Hermès is famous for a lot of things: the Birkin bag, the “H”-shaped belt buckle, the silk scarves, the eras of Margiela, Lemaire, and Gaultier. But the French luxury house is probably best known for what people don’t know about it. For over 150 years, it has operated like a desire machine running on scarcity and discretion. How many bags get made every year? No one knows. Why doesn’t Hermès tell? That’s somewhat of a mystery too.
This carefully and intentionally cultivated aura of secrecy also applies to its collaborations. Hermès rarely teams up with third parties, and when it does, everything is tightly controlled and quietly orchestrated from start to finish down to the smallest possible detail. A peek behind the curtains of a Hermès collaboration is rare, particularly when it reveals parts of the creative and decision-making processes. (When reached by Highsnobiety, Hermès declined to comment for this feature.) But that’s exactly what I got in speaking with its latest collaborator.
Hermès’ most recent partner is a surprising one: 86-year-old graphic designer Karel Martens, low-key legend of Dutch design whose formal-yet-playful experiments in typography and printmaking have earned him worldwide cult status. Hermès has worked with major artists in the past, like Bauhaus icon Josef Albers and acclaimed photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. Yet, Martens presents a unique circumstance for Hermès. The two aren’t creating a one-off product but an ongoing, open-ended dialogue unfolding across scarves, bags, home goods, and who knows what else.
All of these collaborative goods flow through Martens & Martens, the Amsterdam-based studio Karel runs with his daughter, Klaartje, and son, Diederik. “We’ve collaborated with fashion brands before, but working with Hermès is like entering a different, almost hidden and magical world,” says Klaartje Martens. “It’s as exciting as it’s completely surreal.”
The connection started around 2021, when Martens was commissioned to design a scarf. (For some time, there was talk of making one for the centenary of 1924 — the year Hermès moved from saddlery into leather goods and handbags — but it never materialized.) Hermès initially wanted to license one of the Martens’ works for it. “But my father got excited,” says Klaartje, “and immediately started designing instead, which they eventually embraced as a pleasant surprise.” The scarf is currently in production and will have a royal debut in March, when it’s presented at Saut Hermès, the major equestrian event at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Meanwhile, in 2023, Martens’ geometrical, vibrantly colored monoprints appeared in Hermès’ biannual in-house magazine, Le Monde d’Hermès. A few years later, Martens was tapped to create new work for the Spring/Summer 2025 issue. Left-hand pages show Hermès products like the classic Cavale saddle and the recent Kaorumi tart platter. Right-hand pages feature Martens’ prints, forming visual responses to the products opposite, with some printed directly over images from the Hermès archives.
Meanwhile, the collaboration has grown steadier and deeper. Karel was invited to create an edition of the classic Garden Party Bag as part of Hermès’ official seasonal collection. “They sent us the format, and then I just started playing around with forms and colors, like I always do,” says the artist, dressed in his effortless yet enviable uniform of wide corduroy trousers and shaggy knit sweater. He soon landed on a shape resembling three overlapping horseshoes — a happy coincidence, as it felt like a nod to the house’s equestrian roots.
Once the bag was taken into production, it was out of his hands. “I found that quite difficult,” Karel says. “I’m a bit of a control freak and always deeply involved in the entire creative process. This time, I couldn’t visit a factory or atelier to give comments and suggestions on the spot.”
Not that he wasn’t amazed by the final result. “I don’t know much about fashion, but I could immediately tell that the craftsmanship is second to none,” he says. The challenge of finding the bag is also second to none, however. It had a quiet release this fall at select Hermès boutiques and was available online for a limited time. The Martens family had to secure one themselves via a special appointment in Amsterdam, which was also the first time they all actually saw the finished product. “Until that moment,” says Diederik Martens, “we sometimes asked ourselves whether the bag was even real.”
It’s a reflection of how, despite being incredibly famous, Hermès is also deeply enigmatic, a seeming paradox that’s been key to the house’s success for over a century. The partnership with Karel Martens shows just how far that secrecy goes, extending even to close partners, who are carefully kept at arm’s length until enough trust is earned for the collaboration to strengthen and gradually expand.
So, what’s next for Hermès and Karel Martens? “Let’s just say different things are in the pipeline: a plaid, a key tray, another bag,” Klaartje says. “We’ve come to think of Hermès as a giant hall, with each door leading to a different room. Sometimes a door opens, and you’re invited in, never quite sure what you’ll see or what will happen next.”
