Collection SS2016: Mythiques Phoenix Coloriages

The legendary phoenix, mount of the gods, is a gigantic, fabulous bird, thought to live for hundreds of years before consuming itself in flames, to be reborn in a nest of myrrh and incense.  The ancient Greeks associated its name (phoinix) with the date palm, a symbol of fertility and longevity. 

The creature seems to emerge from the centre of the carré, surrounded by the date palm’s foliage and fruit.  Transformed by its new colour treatment, the composition resembles a sophisticated colouring book.  Like an allegory of re-birth, colour takes its place around the central bird of paradise.  Already, the head is flooded with colour and new life.  Gradually, black and white give way to an inrush of colour.  The phoenix rises from the ashes.

Collection SS2015: Flamingo Party

A stunningly beautiful scarf, Flamingo Party explores organic themes and suggests the dance ritual that birds so gracefully perform during their mating season (Zorba's Dance is an interpretation of two storks dancing).

Pink flamingos, those huge, strangely beautiful birds, throw themselves once a year into a lengthy nuptial parade that sees them pair off, two by two… until next year. Flaunting their long, extraordinarily supple, graceful necks, their aristocratic bearing, their carefully preened wings, males and females take stock, brushing past one another, scrutinizing their potential partners for hours on end.  Surrounded by palms, orange trees and tropical flowers, their wings unfurled, in a frenzied tête-à-tête, the two birds pictured here are a celebration of their native Florida. 

America’s south-easternmost State is home to the celebrated Everglades national park, the habitat for a host of species including alligators, cougars, lynx, manatees and flamingos.

Collection SS2014: De la Mer au Ciel

Braving the cold weather in Paris is often rewarded when you take a trip to the legendary Hermes boutique on Faubourg St-Honoré, in search of new treasures.

This season sees the return of many Hermes classics: both reissues of popular designs as well as celebrated artists, whose names have graced the pages of this blog - and countless collectors' and admirers' wardrobes alike.

Not little has my amazement been when I came across this spectacular new design of the Spring-Summer 2014 collection, called "de la mer au ciel" (from the Sea to the Sky) by Laurence Bourthoumieux, a prolific artist whose past designs have been instant hits with the H fans: "Promenade au pays de Cezanne", "Parures de Sables", "Parures Océanes", "Aloha", "Brazil" and "Brazil II" and, more recently, "Mythiques Phoenix".  This is a stark departure from those designs, albeit no less impactful and memorable.

From the Sea to the Sky depicts the aquatic life and the birds of the skies in a harmonious cohabitation.  It also makes you lift the imagination to the sky and dream.

It wears wonderfully and the richness of the colours makes this design easy to wear and match with multiple outfits.

Collection FW2009: Jardins de la Nouvelle Angleterre

I fell in love with this scarf since the moment it was launched, and I'm surprised as to how I managed not to give it a place of honour in the list of beautiful scarves.

"Jardins de la Nouvelle Angleterre" ("Gardens of New England") lets you admire, as if through a lens, the beauty that the pictures landscapes display.  Looking at this landscape depicted on the scarf, I have the distinct impression I'm coming out of an expedition through the forest to an opening where life is idyllic - trees, plants, racoons, a river stream ... rich fauna and flora that coexist harmoniously with the human inhabitants. 

The scarf ties wonderfully and the colour combinations (the red, depicted above, the forest green and the taupe, below) are absolutely phenomenal !

Collection SS2010: Brazil II

Long overdue is the charming "Brazil" design with its delicate feather-based gear inspired from the ornamentations of Amazonian Indians.  Today's post focuses on the reinterpretation of an older design, with a fresh scarf focusing on a close-up detail of the original.

People's (and peoples') fascination with self-built gear is evident in the many cultures where adorning various body parts continues to be a central element of local cultures.  As a species of the animal kingdom, man is the only "animal" lacking feathers or fur to protect its body from the weather's vicissitudes.  First, we seek to cover our sexual organs.  Yet, the drive to cover our bodies is not stemming from mere modesty.  Since our birth (and the original creation), we sense that we're lacking something - something we end up seeking (often relentlessly) to make ourselves beautiful throughout our entire lives.

As "naked apes", we have retained a single natural vestige that we - men and women alike - use to express grace, sensuality, seduction (think of a geisha's hair), as well as courage and virility (consider the military-style haircut).  When expressing ourselves through a hair arrangement or haircut is no longer enough, we appeal to feathers as embellishments or, symbolically, as complements to our bodies, elements that we seize on to transform ourselves.  The delicate feather becomes a powerful symbol of power, social position or courtship ritual.  Nowhere is this more obvious than the peacock's giant fan, nothing short of a marvel of transformation, to signal its moods. 

Collection SS2010: Brazil

Last week I spoke about embellishments, so I thought it appropriate for this post to explore teh theme fo ornaments, the many objects we make a part of our own to enhance a certain trait (such as our eyes or lips), or as a wardrobe accessory – all for the purpose of to enhancing our appearance and embellishing our look.

The focal point of this scarf is the "dress”, made exclusively of natural feathers, used by native Amazon Indians as an item of clothing.  Depicted in the each of the corners of the scarf is a matching tiara, a head crown of feathers that complete the costumes.  And speaking of costumes, these elements have been highly employed in the Rio Carnival, touted as the biggest on Earth, where countless costumes are featured annually, as a reflection of the native Indians’ cultures.

First released as part of the FW1988 collection, it was reissued in 1991, 1999, 2000, 2006 (in gavroche size, depicted above) and again in 2009.  Of interest is the reissue of this design as a detail of the original (depicted below), in 2001 and again in 2010 (in the gavroche and 140cm silk mousseline sizes).

This scarf ties beautifully and invites the admirer to discover its story and its history.