As luxury wellness continues to trend, Hermès brings its pop-up gym to the category’s epicenter: Los Angeles.
From July 21st to July 24th, you can work out with Hermès at the recently restored famed Hollywood Athletic Club as part of the HermèsFit pop-up.
The Hollywood pop-up comes after the French luxury house launched HermèsFit in Chengdu, China, last year. The pop-up hit Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood last November after stops in Paris, Taipei, and Shanghai.
The pop-up will feature products on display from the luxury house along with fitness classes—sometimes combining the two. During its Brooklyn run, the Hermèsfit gym featured stretching sessions with Hermès belts and yoga that used the label’s scarves. Those classes are carrying over to Los Angeles, as is “Kickboxing with Bangles,” as well as “Voguing with Hats” and “Mirror Mirror,” which looks to include the label’s bags.
The L.A. location schedule also features access to a climbing wall, live evening performances, DJ sets, and a juice bar.
The gym equipment is branded with the Hermès logo and orange colorway.
“Fitness meets fun at this unconventional event that immerses visitors in the world of fashion accessories, the perfectly offbeat companions for sport,” Hermès says on the Hermèsfit webpage. “Come with friends and family to explore the space or sign up for a fitness class and become an everyday athlete.”
The pop-up follows a string of Hermès events in Los Angeles. Last November it hosted a dinner party at a home formerly owned by Frank Sinatra. In April, it hosted a one-night Blue Horse restaurant pop-up celebrating its new Costa Mesa boutique.
Luxury wellness
Hermèsfit comes to Los Angeles as the luxury wellness trend is booming following the two years of covid lockdown.
Gucci recently partnered with Oura on its fitness tracking ring for a Gucci-branded version as wellness trends like adaptogens and functional mushrooms are popping up in restaurants, coffee shops, and supermarkets.
Last week, California-based self-care brand Flexpower announced it’s now positioning itself for the luxury market with launces at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in Ojai as well as Golden Door Spa in Escondido. The brand started as a pain relief cream developed by former Cal Berkeley athlete Rasheen Smith and has since expanded into other personal care categories. It caught the attention of Heather Vandenberghe, now the company’s CEO, who has a background in luxury branding for Louis Vuitton, Westfield, and Tommy Hilfiger.
“You can be wearing a $10,000 dress and those beautiful shoes, but if your feet hurt, if your back hurts, if something is making you uncomfortable, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, you’re not going to look your best,” Vandenberghe said in a statement.
That intersection between luxury and wellness, specifically stress- and pain-relief, has been the sweet spot for brands including Travis Barker’s Barker Wellness, which is focused on high-end CBD products, including a pain-relief balm.
Los Angeles is arguably the epicenter of the luxury wellness movement, with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop headquarters in Santa Monica, and wellness destinations like Golden Door and the Terranea Resort a stone’s throw from the city. Closer to home there’s an abundance of luxury spa destinations including Ole Henriksen, The Beverly Hills Hotel Spa, and Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa.
It’s also an up-and-coming destination for psychedelic wellness with ketamine centers like Field Trip Health now open.
But it’s Los Angeles health food store Erewhon that has been at the forefront of the west coast’s wellness craze. The supermarket, which opened its doors more than 50 years ago, has recently begun expansion plans that have taken it across LA County, with plans to spread across the country to New York.
Most recently, it announced a partnership with Maui’s Grand Wailea Resort, where it’s bringing some of its signature menu items and superfood snacks to the booming wellness tourism sector.
Hollywood Athletic Club
The location for the Hermèsfit pop-up is as iconic as the label; founded in 1924 by silent movie star Charlie Chaplin, along with director Cecil B. DeMille, and film star Mae West, the Hollywood Athletic Club was a popular place during the Golden Era of Hollywood for socializing even more so than exercise.
Later, it would host the first Emmy Awards ceremony in 1949, then stints as a university, a nightclub, and a recording studio. it underwent a major restoration in the late 1970s to return to its original design. After its renovations, it’s been used primarily as an event space and notable film location. In the mid-1980s, Michael Jackson’s family put a bid on the property than eventually fell through. It was acquired in 1986 by the Nourmand family who still operates the space today.
The Hermèsfit Pop-Up comes to Los Angeles from July 21 to 24.
