Hermès Transforms Manhattan Into Its Very Own Equestrian Playground

Hermès is bringing back its equestrian heritage in a playful format. The French house has unveiled a free immersive installation entitled Mystery at the Grooms, where visitors must solve a riddle: help the caretakers find the horses that have disappeared from the grooms’ residence. Located at Pier 36 in Manhattan, New York, the experience has already attracted more than 25,000 participants and will run through June 29 with pre-registration.

The tour runs through six themed rooms where players have seven minutes to find five horses hidden throughout the space. Each room contains clues and surprise elements, such as horses hidden in safes, behind panels or printed on moving clothing.

But horses are not the only element in the game: participants are assisted by fictional characters such as Maeleine Galop, the stable manager, or the detective Mr. Honore, whose voice guides the history of the brand and calls to mind the first street in Paris where the first Hermès store was set up.

Hermès brings its creative universe to New York with a free immersive experience

Beyond the playful component, the installation acts as a creative showcase for the sixteen metiers, the firm’s product categories. From leather goods and garments to porcelain and equestrian items, each room also conceals real pieces from the Hermès universe, many of them rarely available for sale.

The experience, which debuted late last year in Shanghai, will tour other key cities such as Tokyo, Singapore and Paris after passing through New York. Participants who manage to find all the horses are rewarded with a notebook and a coloring book, as a souvenir of their passage through the universe of the brand.

With a high advertising investment, Hermès has positioned the cultural event among the general public. For Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of the house, the game symbolizes movement, imagination and freedom, the horse being the insignia of the brand since its creation.