The Hermès Girl Way: Gregoris Pyrpylis on his ‘Plein Air Luminous Matte Skincare Foundation’

• Beanie Stolper: Foundation is often the most overlooked category in beauty, essential, but rarely discussed with the same imagination as colour. Why did Hermès choose to begin its complexion story here and how does it sit within the broader Hermès Beauty vision and the house more widely?

  Gregoris Pyrpylis: Hermès began its complexion story with foundation because it reflects the house’s core philosophy: material, craft, the right nuance and refinement before embellishment. Foundation at Hermès Beauty is not about transformation, it’s about enhancing what is already there. It’s about revealing natural beauty with precision, restraint and exceptional materials, rather than masking or covering and excess. Within Hermès beauty complexion acts like the house’s noble materials, leather or silk, skin as a living material, a base built with the same attention to texture, touch and light. Just as leather elevates structure or silk enhances movement, foundation perfects skin quietly. Hermès beauty is not driven by trends, it is about skin as a material, light as luxury and subtle sophistication, fully in line with the broader Hermès universe.

BS: Personally, this foundation feels like everything I’ve been wanting; the comfort of skincare with the presence of coverage. Who is the Hermès Beauty girl today and how is she different from the woman imagined by traditional luxury beauty, if she does?

GP: Even though I don’t like to generalise the Hermès woman because I feel like there is not only one type, some of the elements that define her are effortless but intentional , self-assured and quietly discerning.

She wants comfort and care but also polish, ease with just enough coverage to feel composed. The Hermès woman isn’t performing sophistication; she lives in it. Her beauty is subtle and intimate, not about transformation, but refinement and continuity.

BS: If you had to choose one look from recent Hermès womenswear to pair with this foundation, which would it be and why?

GP: If I had to pick one Hermès look to pair with this foundation, it would be a signature piece from the spring/summer 2026 womenswear collection. A muted sandy-toned ensemble with tailored leather accents. The soft natural palette mirrors the foundation’s skin like finish that is subtle, refined and effortless. A look that complements a complexion that looks like skin, not make up.

BS: Foundation traditionally corrects whereas this one collaborates with the skin. At what point did you decide that the skincare feel needed to be as present as the makeup result?

GP: We knew from the beginning that if we were going to create a foundation, it couldn’t behave like a traditional foundation. Foundation typically corrects; it perfects by covering. But Hermès is a house that respects material. And skin is the ultimate material for me. So, the turning point came when the question shifted from “how much does it cover?” to “how does it feel on the skin?” The skincare sensoriality wasn’t just an add on, it was foundational to the brief. The product had to move with the skin, breathe with it, enhance rather than conceal. The idea was never to impose something on the skin, but to accompany it, to create presence without weight. In that sense, skincare feel and make up performance were conceived as one gesture, comfort and refinement existing simultaneously.

At Hermès, luxury isn’t about excess, it’s about precision and intention. And in this case, our intention was not only about what you see in the mirror, but also what your skin experiences.

BS: Hermès is a French house, but beauty today is global. Did you think about how this foundation would behave across different climates, temperatures, and ways of living?

GP: Absolutely. Hermès beauty is conceived for a woman who lives globally. Performance across different climates is essential. A complexion product today has to move between humidity in Singapore, the dry heat in Athens and rainy days in Paris. So the formula was developed to remain breathable in heat and humidity, to avoid feeling dry or tight in colder climates, to maintain radiance without becoming greasy, and finally to adapt to long wear without heaviness. But beyond the weather, we also thought of her lifestyle. The Hermès woman may travel a lot, commute, work long hours, go from indoors to outdoors and vice versa. The foundation needed to feel comfortable in motion, not as a mask. It behaves like skin because it was created to live with it, not on top of it.

BS: Language feels especially important here: foundation, skincare, ‘Plein Air’. How much did naming guide the product’s behaviour, rather than simply describe it? The phrase luminous matte is almost paradoxical. Did you enjoy holding those two ideas in tension and did that contradiction shape how the formula evolved?

GP: Language wasn’t just descriptive here, it was directive. The names set the intention before the formula existed, reflecting the kind of beauty we believe in at Hermès. Foundation here suggests structure and essence without weight, not a cover up but a companion. Skincare implied performance over time, not just instant embellishment.

Plein air evokes light, comfort and breathability. We wanted the new plein air collection to respect skin and allow it to behave like skin outdoors; responsive, alive, dimensional. When it comes to ‘luminous matte’, it was deliberately paradoxical because to explain the formula away from extremes and excess, not flat nor shiny. A soft diffusion of light, hydrated and radiant skin but not glowy, perfected but real, never masked. This paradox didn’t complicate the development, it refined it.

BS: Talk to me about the packaging. Hermès objects are obsessed with detail. The bottle feels architectural, almost like a piece of design rather than cosmetics. Pierre Hardy’s circle and square, frosted and transparent glass, metal and softness. What story do you want it to tell before it’s opened?

GP: With Hermès, every object is a story. This bottle had to feel architectural, almost like a sculpture you’d display, not just a container. Pierre Hardy’s circle and square, the interplay of frosted and transparent

glass (echoing the luminous matte finish), metal and softness, all these elements create a dialogue, a tension even, between precision and tactility. Before it’s even opened, we want the bottle and the whole line to promise care, a ritual, a suspended moment of self care. It’s not just a product; it’s an invitation to experience beauty as design. An invitation to celebrate beauty in what is useful.

BS: You’ve introduced not just a foundation, but a full complexion ritual: primer, brush, palette, applicator. Are you proposing a slower, more intentional relationship with foundation specifically? More of an emphasis on its importance?

GP: Definitely! This collection isn’t about coverage, fixing something that bothers you and moving on. It’s about a ritual. Each element encourages a slower, more intentional relationship with foundation and its application. It’s about creating a moment, elevating this moment from an ordinary step to an experience. Something you engage with rather than something that you simply wear. And it’s by putting the emphasis on the tools, the gestures and the process that the importance of the skin and the act of caring for it become central.

BS: With thirty four shades across five intensities and three undertones, the language you use is about identity rather than coverage. How did you ensure the shade range respected individuality without forcing people into rigid categories?

GP: The shade range was designed around identity, customisation and flexibility, not necessarily correction. We focused on nuance, allowing the product to adapt to everyone’s skin, celebrating differences rather than

standardising them. It’s about supporting self-expression, so every person can find a shade that feels truly uniquely theirs. The intention is that the formula and texture adapt to the skin rather than imposing themselves on it.

BS: Finally, foundation is often the most loyal product in a routine. Once you find your shade, as a wearer you usually stay. How did that idea of long term allegiance influence the way you built the range but also scientifically about how the product keeps for a longer period of time?

GP: We knew foundation is often the most loyal product in a routine. Once someone finds their shade and the texture that works for them, they tend to stick with it for a long time. Creatively speaking, every shade was designed to feel lasting and personal, nuanced enough to accommodate subtle changes in skin tone over time. On a technical note, it influenced the formulation. We prioritised stability, texture and skin comfort to ensure that the product remains true in colour, finish and performance day after day. Longevity wasn’t just about the wear on the skin, it’s about creating a relationship of trust, a product that feels reliable. It’s about a long term relationship between the foundation and its wearer. The most intimate relationship in beauty.