Luxury fashion house Hermès has officially unveiled its newest storefront, which has opened within Wilmette’s historic open-air retail destination, Plaza del Lago. The new boutique channels the area’s surrounding nature and wildlife while inviting guests to explore the label’s 16 distinct métiers—from women’s and men’s ready-to-wear to watchmaking, perfume, beauty, furniture, tableware and more.

As guests arrive, they are greeted by the store’s original Spanish Revival façade, which has been maintained and preserved to showcase the shopping center’s century-long heritage. A bell tower anchors the exterior design, and oversized windows welcome abundant natural light into the two-level space. The ground floor features a sunny, honey-hued design palette that extends into dragonfly motifs layered throughout, crafted in both stucco and wood.

The fashion house’s signature ex-libris and Grecques lighting fixtures—signature design codes used globally in Hermès boutiques, including the the historic Paris flagship at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré—illuminate a curated selection of jewelry and men’s and women’s ready-to-wear apparel, while silk walls and carpets evoke compressed agate and the nearby lake, framing the home collection to the left and the equestrian and fragrance collections to the right.

A spiral staircase, adorned with patterns inspired by dragonfly wings, ushers guests to the second floor, leading to the men’s salon and women’s ready-to-wear section, where everything from women’s shoes to daily staples and accessories is displayed. The second floor is outfitted with handmade color-gradient carpets, dragonfly wing-inspired engravings and light wood walls, which frame intimate spaces for jewelry, watches and leather goods.

Designed by Parisian architecture agency RDAI, the store’s interiors combine light, texture and craftsmanship, drawing inspiration from ancient agate and the surrounding nature of the North Shore. Also woven into the design is a curated selection of artwork from the Émile Hermès Collection—a private museum located above the historic Hermès flagship store at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris—and the Hermès Collection of Contemporary Photographs, including works such as Commuter Discourse by renowned photographer Barbara Crane, captured in Chicago in 1978, and the Hermès Dress Code carré, designed by celebrated artist Daniel Clowes.

The new boutique furthers the brand’s nearly two centuries of heritage while bringing its signature offerings to the North Shore for the first time. The brand maintains nearly 300 stores throughout 45 countries and is led by CEO Axel Dumas, a sixth-generation descendant of the brand’s founder, Thierry Hermès.

 
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