A Waking Dream

Hermès dreamt up a day with no end, where everything felt like a dream — except that our eyes were wide open, and our minds, alert.

- Caroline Suganda

IT WAS 8PM IN TROMSO, Northern Norway, but the night sky I am so familiar with was not here to wind down the night with me. It was as bright as day break; it was June and this is summer in this part of the world.

I was juggling the challenges — different timezones, among others — of a long-haul flight, from Singapore via Paris, to the Arctic Circle. What time was it? The digital display my iPhone said it was 8pm… or was it 8am? What day was it? I could hardly keep track. Where was I? That, I knew. Now.

Just a few days prior, back in Singapore, I had no inkling as to the destination I was headed to, save for a few clues on the invitation card I was holding from Hermès. “Fellow dreamers, experience a day without end ‘In the Pursuit of Dreams’” were the words that stared back at me. The clues: a meeting point (Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport), what to pack (walking boots, parka and sunglasses) and what not to pack (heeled shoes, dresses and shorts).

It was profoundly suspenseful, and in running with Hermès’s theme for the year: Dream. For the past 32 years, the French luxury leather goods brand has been offering an experiential trip revolving the annual theme, and this year, the house was taking on the role of a dream weaver, offering up surprises that tease and tantalise the senses, all gently intertwined with wit and whimsy.

This invite was to experience an unusual event, an otherwordly experience that held a promise to captivate the senses and leave everything to the imagination. In other words, manifesting dream into reality.