La Réale

I have been struggling with this post for several days now, for I wanted to pay tribute to another Hermes design classic yet the feelings that this design triggers are, for me, mixed: the glory of this luxurious and imposing galley, world-famous and recognized for its symbols, is shadowed by the image of the many souls condemned to hard labour working the oars under the deck. The contemporary depiction of that social stratification was beautifully captured in James Cameron's "Titanic", albeit in a less intense if somewhat romanticized manner.

"La Reale" ("the Regal one") was the venerated galley in the service of King Louis IV of France. In the French nomenclature of galleys, a "regular" galley had 26 pairs of oars, with 6 oarsmen per bank. "La Reale" was considered an "extraordinary" galley as it had 32 pairs of oars with the same number of oarsmen per bank (6). The design depicts the stern (back) of the galley, in all its splendour, thanks in part to the impressive size and in part to the opulent decorations, symbolic of the opulence at the court of the "Sun King". Of interest is that the design itself is not depicting the oars.

The galley is illustrated within what appears to be a canopy, depicting the French royal insignia - the "fleurs de lys" ("lily flowers"). The tassels from each of the four corners give the tie a more traditional "feel" when the scarf is knotted. Similarly, the colour combination of this scarf is more traditional - particularly the "royal" blue and the gold accents, although more recent reissues of this scarf inspire a more contemporary "feel" thanks to a limited variation of colour combination (a predominant soft green, for instance, makes the scarf feel younger and contemporary). One such design combination had a burgundy border, a white inner border and a overall burgundy illustration, which again made the scarf very chic without coming across as too traditional or "antiquated".

Collection 1999: Cosmos

Today's posts continues the day's "travel" theme by transporting the viewer to a totally different universe. 


Cosmos is a scarf originally released in 1966. The design, by Philippe Ledoux, was popular enough with the Hermes admirers to command subsequent re-issues, in 1991-1992 and in 1999 (and again in 2003 in 140cm cashmere/silk combination). Each series had many different colours, from the darker, more mature hues of blue, green and burgundy to other more "playful" colours. I picked the yellow colour to display the theme because I find it both different and uplifting. The four corners depict chariots reminiscent of Apollo carrying the Sun across the skies. Albeit traditional, this design is a "classic" of the Hermes collection.


A more recent reinterpretation of this scarf, in 2003 - depicted below - marks Air France's 70 years anniversary.  Note the added text around the centre image ("Air France 1933-2003), the superposed hippocampus (the company's logo, representing a mythical sea horse with two forefeet whose lower body resembles that of a fish and ending in a dolphin tail) as well as a plane underneath it.

Collection SS2007: Les Pavois

Another design that captured my attention and captivated my imagination is "Les Pavois" by Philippe Ledoux, a late long-serving and admired designer in the service of the Maison. A bit traditional, but beautifully combining tradition (flags) with contemporary (colours, for instance) in a very harmonious way !

First released in 1964 and reissued in 1990, this classic pattern has been reinterpreted most recently in 1998 by way of beautiful, contemporary and more relevant colours (such as the baby pink background, or a taupe, dark brown and mustard yellow combination)

What I find particularly spectacular about this design is the apparent dynamism of the image - rendered undoubtedly by the waving flags. A variation of this design with a baby pink background makes the entire "experience" softer yet equally dramatic. Other colours, particularly the darkers ones, I find to render this design into a more traditional scarf. I find it fascinating how the colour combination can have such a dramatic impact on the "feel" of a scarf.