Home for the holidays

FOR QUALITY AND STYLE that never go out of fashion (in other words, are eminently covetable), look no further than French luxury maison, Hermès, which has some seriously desirable homeware this season.

These decorative objects span the range from a wooden armchair coated with a compound containing cellulose microfibres, an engraved stone coffee table and luxurious cashmere throws and quilted bed covers, to saddle-stitched cowhide leather lamps, colourful crockery, lacquered keepsake boxes and an understated wicker bottle basket that might also be the most elegant one ever.

All designed to celebrate texture, they are meant to be touched and used as much as they are to be admired.

There are also elements of fun, as seen in the whimsical Hippomobile collection of tea service featuring a horse that wraps around a teapot, stretches over three plates (''A kind of limousine horse,'' says artist Gianpaolo Pagni) and sneaks into a cup. The colourful and vaguely cartoonish designs will brighten up any breakfast or high tea, and go perfectly with the warmth and laughter of the festive season.

Raw and natural materials are also lauded, from wood, stone, paper, wicker and cashmere, to the beauty and luxury of leather - as the main structure of a table lamp, to partner and contrast wickerwork or for crafting chic handles.

If your home is indeed your castle, then Hermès fits right in.