“For some women, being stuck in a rut, remaining motionless, are purely abstract ideas, for they are all about movement,” began the show notes from the Hermès Fall 2021 collection.

This month marks a year since COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. When the coronavirus will be fully behind us is still a question that we continue to ask ourselves, but creative director Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski suggests that we must forge ahead nonetheless. “It is urgent now to live again, to venture forth into the unknown, to gain a new lease of life,” the press release continued. “It is a time of rebuilding: so much remains to be explored, beginning with womanhood, a concept that has changed quite a lot these past few years. Time flies, which is surely a sign that we need to reinvent ourselves.” Of course, when we do shed our skins and stride forward, Vanhée-Cybulski has one of this season’s most alluring propositions for the clothes that we shall wear.

A simple checkered pattern appears on turtlenecks and belted jackets; denim gets a luxurious upgrade thanks to midi dresses and high-waisted jeans; pleated silk skirts echo billowing curtains; pants are made for cycling, or, in other words, a life on the go; and coats and ponchos come equipped with scarves, which, in effect, the notes said, “supply the protection one needs to feel strong, without ever hindering movement.” For proof, look beyond the French fashion house’s Garde Républicaine-set runway and instead to New York‘s Park Avenue Armory, where the American artist Madeline Hollander, and a handful of other dancers, breathed new life into the clothes—just as Chinese choreographer Gu Jiani did in Shanghai. The three elements came together seamlessly yesterday afternoon in a short film directed by Sébastien Lifshitz. “Let us feel free to connect with other cities, other cultures,” the press release read. “Let us attempt to be creative together—albeit from a distance.” After all, in a time in which we are still largely constrained by the walls of our homes, who isn’t now dreaming of crisscrossing the globe in such effortlessly elegant ensembles? 

Below, watch Hermès Fall 2021.