Hermès has turned Pier 36 into a warren of themed spaces where visitors have seven minutes per room to spot five concealed horses while following audio clues from detective Mr. Honore.
Hermès has turned Pier 36 on the Lower East Side into a living puzzle. The installation, “Mystery at the Grooms’,” drops visitors into a groom’s residence stripped of its most precious residents: the horses. Their disappearance sets off a brisk hunt through six connected rooms, each dressed with props that nod to the house’s equestrian past.
Inside, the rules are simple and swift. Players get seven minutes per room to spot five hidden horses—twenty-five in total—before hoof-shaped markers on the floor lead them onward. A recorded voice, credited to the fictional detective Mr. Honore (named after the Paris street where Thierry Hermès opened his first store), feeds clues in measured tones. One hint pushes searchers toward hay bales in the pantry, another steers them to a Rocabar blanket folded in the dormitory, where Clip-Clop might be tucked beneath the wool.
Hermès has taken pains to keep the pace tight and the atmosphere light. The game is free, though registration is required, and it runs from Thursday through June 29. According to the company, roughly 25,000 people have already claimed slots. Full-page ads in The New York Times and The New Yorker trumpet the event, while posters wrap the East Broadway subway station, unmistakable in the house’s signature orange.
For a label built on saddlery, steering city dwellers toward a stable-inspired caper feels both playful and on brand. The only question left is whether Ringlet, Clip-Clop, and their missing companions will stay hidden long enough to keep New Yorkers guessing.
