Another screen was placed, resulting in a thin black outline. The screens are then removed, washed, and set in a different stack. An entire screen would be used to apply a one-inch signature that is hardly noticeable. The artisan laid a succession of screens atop the blank silk square and squeegeed dye over it. Most relevatory, perhaps, was the spectacle of printing one of the famed scarves. Photo: William Jess Laird, courtesy of Hermès. Other sections demonstrated the stitching of a Kelly bag, or leather glove-making.ĭoing the dishes: Fine porcelain in the process of being hand-painted. It looked exact, but on closer inspection there were ever-so-slight, barely perceptible nuances, a human touch that made each distinctive. She glanced at a finished vase and then dabbed at her in-process one with a fine brush to match the patterns. At one station, an artisan was meditatively lost in her work. The site is divided amongst the house’s métiers.
Next stops are Singapore in September, Austin in October, and Kyoto in November. Detroit is not the only stop: They’re like a troupe of Shakespearean actors, plying their art from community to community. With eight artisans at work at any given time, the colorful atelier is like a chic, Pompidou-esque version of an immersive, kid-oriented science museum, but for adults geeked on fashion. They require the utmost skill and training, and many procedures are proudly, defiantly low-tech. The techniques are painstaking, intricate, and time-consuming. If spies from a rival company came to glean trade secrets, they would leave empty-handed: It wouldn’t be possible or cost-effective to replicate the handiwork on show. This iteration was held in a large space within the high-end Somerset Collection Mall (the brand opened a store there in 2021). “Hermès in the Making,” which ran in the suburb of Troy from June 10–15, is a traveling pop-up that lets viewers witness the processes of creation. Hermès implemented a “show, don’t tell” strategy with the centerpiece of the trip, “ Hermès in the Making.” Admittedly, I was absolutely schooled.Ī cavalcade of color (and a Birkin bag). When asked why they called them “bird savers,” they explained that they were to be hung in the school’s windows, to prevent birds from splatting against the glass of the new modern extension being built.Ĭraftsmanship and sustainability are key tenets of Hermès, but what does this mean in practice? What brand doesn’t purport to be eco-conscious? It’s increasingly harder to penetrate a company’s drumbeat of messaging and zero in on truth. The third-graders were making kaleidoscopic butterflies out of gorgeous silk scarf remnants.
#HERMES SCARVES FREE#
Indeed, the itinerary for last week’s press tour included a visit to the Detroit Achievement Academy, a free charter school to which Hermès has provided grants and art supplies.
“We want to be part of the community,” explained the house’s executive vice president, Diane Mahady, during a June 10 panel at the city’s College for Creative Studies. Meanwhile, Detroit has a burgeoning art scene and is settling into its rebirth as a creative hub. Hermès, a $16 billion heritage brand, remains family run, and of the 11,000 French employees, more than half-55 percent-are artisans. A whimsical equestrian scene is depicted on one of the famed scarves.