Glossy, packed with buttons incomprehensible to non-experts, and increasingly visible far beyond nightclub walls. DJ booths and DJ consoles have become one of the fetish objects of contemporary design — a phenomenon so powerful that it has now reached one of the world’s biggest luxury brands.

That brand is Hermès, which has long cultivated a strong relationship with design. The French maison has unveiled its Atelier Horizons Disque Jockey Club: a console-table that merges craftsmanship, hi-fi culture and club aesthetics into a polished object that already feels as though it belongs somewhere between a yacht and a villa in Saint-Tropez.

Developed with British DJ Prince Charles inside Atelier Horizons — Hermès’ special workshop dedicated to bespoke objects and led by designer and naval architect Axel de Beaufort — the project brings the maison’s luxury savoir-faire into the world of audio. Its mahogany and cowhide leather structure was crafted by French cabinetmakers and integrates Japanese turntables hidden beneath leather-covered panels. More than a high-tech product, it resembles a piece of contemporary fine cabinetry.

It is a radically different approach from the industrial, raw and high-intensity DJ consoles that have dominated contemporary design in recent years. While many contemporary DJ booths draw from brutalist aesthetics, Berlin rave culture and an almost aggressive underground imagery, Hermès moves in the opposite direction: toward artisanal savoir-faire and ultra-controlled luxury.

And yet, the final message is surprisingly similar. In both cases, the DJ booth stops being a purely technical tool and becomes an identity object — almost architectural in presence. A symbolic element within contemporary domestic spaces.

For years, audio systems, mixers and turntables were objects to hide away. Today, the opposite is happening: they are becoming visual centerpieces in the home, much like designer lamps or bookshelves. It is the same phenomenon that has fueled the rise of listening bars and sound-focused venues, as well as entire Instagram pages dedicated to sound systems as “sacred” design objects placed everywhere — in living rooms, on terraces, even in bathrooms.

Hermès is not even the first fashion brand to move closer to music subcultures. More and more labels are transforming vinyl, audio systems and listening culture into core elements of their aesthetic identity, in a hybrid territory between interior design, lifestyle and music culture.

It remains unclear whether the Atelier Horizons Disque Jockey Club will ever be commercially distributed or remain a made-to-order object reserved for select clients. What is certain is that the project fits into a broader strategy: in recent years Atelier Horizons has already created leather-covered jukeboxes, portable speakers, ping pong tables, surfboards and other custom-made objects designed to turn domestic luxury into an increasingly hybrid space between design, craftsmanship and lifestyle.

Ultimately, Hermès seems less interested in selling a DJ console than in certifying something larger: the DJ booth no longer belongs exclusively to club culture. It has become one of the new symbolic objects of contemporary luxury — not necessarily to play music, but to represent a certain way of living, listening and being seen.

Opening image: Atelier Horizons Disque Jockey Club. Courtesy Hermès