Hermes at Maison Hermès Shanghai — Utopian Garden Summer Windows and Exhibi (2025)

Maison Hermès Shanghai hosted a summer window scheme and a同名 exhibition of paper-and-ink landscapes by Zeng Jianyong.

The venue

Maison Hermès Shanghai occupies a heritage building on Huaihai Middle Road in central Shanghai, refitted as the brand's local maison. The building stacks retail floors above an upper-level exhibition area, with glazed windows at street level facing the pavement. Its rooms are domestic in scale rather than hall-like, so displays read at close range and visitors move through them in small groups rather than as a crowd.

How the space was used

The street-facing windows were built out as a scroll-like landscape, with islands emerging and moss spreading across the surfaces to draw passers-by into the frame. Inside, the同名 exhibition extended the same system of works by Zeng Jianyong, arranged so that flat and three-dimensional pieces follow one another through the rooms in a montage sequence.

Why it works here

The maison pairs retail with a gallery programme, so a window scheme and an exhibition can be read as one continuous gesture. Windows address Huaihai Road foot traffic directly, while the quieter upper rooms let visitors spend time with the works, which suits an art-and-craft project tied to the annual theme.