[Shopping in Paris] I bought Hermès Scarves at 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré Paris

In spite of my love for craftsmanship, handcraft, technicality … I confess I have never fallen for a single Hermès square. When JB was working in a sales depot, I have seen countless luxury items go through. After the initial excitement of touching and looking at them closely, by dint of seeing them pass through our workshop, they simply became ordinary objects, and we ended up finding them far too expensive for what they were.

Until recently…

We were driving through Normandy, I was half asleep and JB was putting the radio on so as not to fall asleep on the road, we came across a very interesting radio report on Kermit Oliver, one of the most mysterious but also respected artists for his creations of Hermès squares. The artist left his job in a postal sorting center only at the end of his career when machines replaced him, while leading a second life as an artist and creator of Hermès squares. His Hermès squares have so many details that he gives Hermès craftsmen a hard time. They have to create up to thirty boards to make his squares.

The report was not only exciting, but it also revealed that Hermes had, for the first time, produced double-sided squares using an innovative printing technique. They are, for the moment, the only ones who know how to make them. Three women’s models + one men’s model are proposed, including one by Kermit Oliver.

A new chapter in Hermès silk: the double-faced square, the “Square to square”! A major innovation: two expressions of the same design on each side of the square.

When I got home, I threw myself on my computer to look at the Hermès SS20 collection and surprise, for the first time, there are squares that I find quite to my taste. I decide to go back and forth from Rouen to Paris, just to see these models, and eventually buy some if I really like them. Cost of the operation: 9€/journey, 1h15 by train.

Hermès rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré

Meeting with my sister in Saint-Lazare for lunch, then we go to theHermès boutiqueat 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. There are several Hermès boutiques in Paris, but I chose this one because it’s THE boutique of the brand, which you see on all the TV reports, which is linked to the history of the brand. It is mythical and inspires several Hermès perfume names. On the top floor, there is an unsuspected garden, which inspired the excellent eau de toilette “Un jardin sur le toit”.

The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is one of the streets of the capital where you can see the Birkin and Kellys marching endlessly, embellished with a colorful twilly at the coves. We see here a man crumpled under the Chloé bags, there a lady with her arms full of bags from Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel…

It’s the first time I’ve been to a Hermès flagship store. As much as I like squatting in the bars of 5-star hotels and have no shame in doing so, I have a hard time with luxury boutiques because I often feel judged, or as I am Asian, I get jumped on when I speak Chinese, but this isn’t the case at Hermès.

I expected it to be ostentatious like the Louis Vuitton boutique on the Champs-Elysées, but contrary to my imagination, everything is very sober, even minimalist. The universes follow one another, and upstairs, it’s fairly compartmentalized, you discover the universes as you go along and even feel like you’re getting lost.

Here, one does not get mugged upon arrival, nor looked down upon. I do not know if our Asian origin justifies a certain welcome, but everyone is very smiling, says hello, without necessarily asking us why we are here or what we are looking for. What I also like is that in spite of our Asian faces, people say hello to us and not “good morning” or “ni hao”. So we were able to walk around the store, raving about items with five-digit prices before the decimal point, without any pressure.

That’s when the real work begins. There’s one salesman per square meter so you just have to look at someone to be taken care of. The squares are part of the brand’s emblems and benefit from a central (and historic) location, right next to the entrance. Before, there were only 4 displays for silk, but we’ve gone to 6 displays, so otherwise it’s a scarf paradise.

Initially, the Hermes squares only existed in 90x90cm. They were intended for horse owners, so that they could easily recognize their riders, and this size was perfect, visible, ideal for manufacturing, as well as use and knotting. Now, we have more varied sizes but the Hermes square (90x90cm thus) remains emblematic.

Why are they expensive?

There is a real know-how behind these squares. First you have to create the design, then isolate the colors. That is to say create a printing plate (a kind of special stencil) by color. If the drawing is complex, you can have about forty “stencils”. Then, the edges are rolled by hand, and it takes 45 minutes for a Hermes craftsman to roll a square. The same printing technique is used by the Atelier de Soierie in Lyon, which sells its squares for 150€, so with the luxurious image of Hermès + the artists invited to create the squares, you can get 375€ at Hermès.

Double-sided squares are even more expensive and rare because at the moment, Hermes is the only one who knows how to print on both sides.

As a comparison, on the left you can see a new square, woven and made in France (in Lyon, like Hermès), also in silk twill but which costs 4 times less than Hermès. You can see that the colors “drool”, the silk is less thick, while at Hermès (on the right), the silk is much shinier, thicker and the colors are clear and precise, they do not drool at all.

Hermès double-sided squares

We ask to see the new double-sided squares. Only 3 of the 4 models are available.

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Besides, not in all colors. There, it’s easy, there are only 3 models so the saleswoman was able to show us all of them, and open them in front of our eyes. Sorry, I only have this picture, but I’ll show you more afterwards

I think it is necessary to come and see them in real life, because they are indeed beautiful, and completely different from the classic squares. When there were leaks about these double faces, people were afraid to have 2 very thin layers of silk sewn together, or to have to pay twice as much as a standard square. But the reality is quite different: each double-sided square costs 490€ against 375€ for a standard square. And the double-sided square has the same thickness as a standard square. It’s just that the ink has “stopped” in the middle instead of running through / soaking through to the reverse side.

• The place has a lot of colors, almost like a standard square
• The reverse side is monochrome : it’s a detail that I hadn’t understood when looking at the photos on the Internet.

I imagine that the innovative technique does not yet allow to have important colors and contrasts on both sides.

Advice n°1

• on the Internet, the offer is less important for example the Della Cavalleria Favolosa model is no longer available on the site, while there is still a copy in the store. The Wow model exists in one color on the site, and two colors in the store. You can also call the stores before your visit to ask for the colors available at the store.
• you have to look at the real squares to realize the beauty of the Double Face model.
• don’t hesitate to ask the salesmen to take a closer look at the squares. It’s their job. A lot of people come here without buying, no one will mistreat you if you just want to look. It’s still an expensive purchase, it’s normal to take your time or come back several times.

Standard squares

I then ask to look at the standard squares. And that’s when I’m glad I looked at the models on the Internet before coming. The abundance of supply is such thatyou don’t know where to look, where to look, what you want. The squares are classified by color, and each model can exist in 12 colors. So it’s almost impossible to see all the inventory on offer in the store, it would have taken too much time, and I would have felt completely overwhelmed and frustrated.

To help us in the choices, the squares of the new collection are highlighted as decorative objects. This allows you to see the details and be inspired. The model that I had spotted “Feathers in celebration”, was available and highlighted as well. Next to it, there are busts of mannequins, on which the saleswomen show us how to knot a Hermes square…

Apparently, the squares of the new collections don’t all come out at the same time. So it’s worth coming back regularly to see if this or that square is out and available in store. Loyal customers of the boutique often have a favorite saleswoman, and she knows their tastes so well that she calls them when a new square that might interest them arrives in the store.

I ask to see “Plumes en fête” and the saleswoman pulls out all the colors available for this model and unfolds them one by one.

After seeing the Double Face model, I admit thatit is no longer possible for me to buy a standard square. If the front is beautiful, the back is so sad because the colors are super bland. Especially for the models with pastel colors, the reverse side is almost white… (well, I exaggerate but it isn’t pretty). There is only one color that, thanks to the very dark use, manages to more or less cross the square, making the back side more colorful and more attractive. But this isn’t the palette that suits me or makes me happy.

Advice n°2

• the offer is so abundant that it is necessary to inquire a minimum amount of information before coming
• don’t hesitate to ask for the colors available in other Hermès boutiques. They can send a courier to pick up the color you need (no obligation to buy) if it is still in stock
• you haveto look at the squares in real life to realize the colors, details and shades, especially the colors upside down (which will never be photographed online)

I then chose two scarves to buy. The saleswoman wrote my name down and proposed to create a customer account for me. She tells me that I can go around the store and if I want to buy something else, I just have to tell the other salespeople that I already have an order form in preparation. I come back 10 minutes later, she accompanies me to the checkout with my order already packed and ready to go. The payment is done very quickly, I am given my two boxes of Hermès scarves, with the 2020 catalog of Hermès squares, the invoice and a scented card.

My sister and I aren’t comfortable with the idea of walking around Paris with a flashy Hermes bag. Asians + Hermes bag = pickpockets, steal from us!

By the way, these orange boxes are orange because at the end of World War II, there was still a lack of everything and it was impossible for Hermes to get its hands on boxes with sober colors. The only ones that nobody wanted were orange. And this color has remained until today.

We put the boxes neither seen nor known in my handbag. I miscalculated because I took a bag that was too small vs. the box in the square. So it was simply put away in a poor plastic bag ahahhaa with a scarf (unmarked cashmere) on top and we could walk around Paris, then take the subway, then the train to Rouen, quietly

In which countries to buy Hermès squares

Before coming, I compared prices on the international sites of Hermès (because I have the possibility to travel all over the world), with the idea of finding the “c’est la fête” model still in stock somewhere in the world.

But prices in France (and in the euro zone) are still the best. So don’t fall for a Hermès square in Switzerland, with the exchange rate, you pay 50€ more for nothing.

I would have liked to get my hands on the double-sided C’est la Fête model, but it has been out of stock for ages, all over the world, I arrived too late.

The scarves I bought

Square 90 Double Face Della Cavalleria Favolosa

So I opted for the double-sided Della Cavalleria Favolosa model, which is out of stock in most countries, and of which only one remains in the store. I didn’t choose the square created by Kermit Oliver because I find it less accomplished than usual. Here is the color I chose :

Well, you may think it’s stupid but I bought it as a form of investment, that is to say I won’t wear it and I will sell it in about twenty years, hoping for a capital gain. I know that Birkin bags would have been a better investment but the cheapest one costs 7000€ and I am not ready to invest that much.

Time will tell me if I am right, because you can’t know in advance if a Hermes model will increase in value over time.
In this case, I still have several encouraging arguments:

• this model was first released in 2018, and upon its release, it was a great success. In 2020, the 2018 model (new and unused) can be resold at a slightly higher price than the original value
• in the United States, they have less stock than here, so the 2020 double-sided version (my square) is already offered for sale there for €700 (while it costs €490 new in France).
• it is one of the first Hermès squares to take advantage of the double-sided printing innovation, and just for that alone, it will be special for life
• besides, it is too pretty <3 <3
• i have noticed that second-hand buyers use the sale price of the new square in the store to judge whether a particular purchase is worth it. That is to say that if I bought a new square in 2020 at 490€, but in 2040, the double-sided square is labeled at 900€ (this is often above inflation), I can resell it at 800€ without too much trouble (it will be new, never used). Either a profit of €310, or almost 3% annual interest, which is normally higher than inflation, or an A 😀 booklet
• i travel a lot, so I have the possibility to have this square estimated, and resell it in countless countries

It will seem naive to you as a calculation. Besides, according to JB, my investment argument is just a pretext to justify my cracking. I actually chose a model that I could wear, in case my investment calculations fall apart. In the worst-case scenario, I will have to wear it ohlala too hard 😀

Advice n°3

• If you are planning to buy a lot of second-hand Hermès squares, there is a book (lien Amazon, link Fnac) which lists the models of Hermès squares and rates them according to their rarity and availability on the market: “rare”, “not rare”, “sought after”, “not sought after”.
• Of course, if you come across a square in a garage sale and the model in question is very rare and much sought-after, you should not hesitate too much, especially if the price is correct.
• The funny thing is that even this book is also rare and very sought after 😀

Well, shall I show you my square?

Mon Premier Carré Hermès : 90 Double Face Della Cavalleria Favolosa

Description

Double-sided square in 100% silk twill hand rolled.
Two expressions of the same design on each side of the square: it’s the square to the square!
Here, the delicacies of the Della Cavalleria Favolosa square are superimposed in colored or monochrome versions.

Made in France
Designed by Virginie Jamin
Dimensions: 90 x 90 cm
Price : 490€

Della Cavalleria is one of the most extraordinary treatises in the history of horseback riding. Written by Georg Engelhard von Löhneysen, it was published in Bavaria at the very beginning of the 17th century. This work, kept in the Émile Hermès collection, illustrated with baroque engravings, presents in particular some German sleighs depicting fabulous creatures and richly adorned horses. Playing with these crews, the draftswoman pushes the extravagance even further, assembling the bodies of horses and chimeric monsters. And since the year is at stake, she distributes, not without humour, to one a racket, to the other a yo-yo or a diabolo, creating strange visual associations worthy of an exquisite corpse.

For each square, 450km of silk yarn, or more than 300 silk glass cocoons (RIP) are needed to make a square. And about forty craftsmen, from the creation of the model to the boards and then sewing, for the edges rolled by hand.

My opinion: a typically Hermès universe: horses, a treatise on the history of the equation, an innovative double-sided print, we find all the essence of Hermès. The reverse side is navy blue, the front side has soft but pastel tones too. The designs are clean, precise, but full of details. I really like this pattern, it’s easier to wear, and more versatile than the usual Hermès equestrian pattern. The combination of colors is less flashy than the 2018 version, and the touch and the shiny side of silk twill, I like it very much.

Gavroche 45 A Garden on the Roof

I still bought a gavroche (i.e. a 45x45cm scarf) to wear everyday because I am sensitive to drafts and can get angina quickly (Note by JB: another argument to justify its cracking). OK, simply because I’m worth it.

I chose a model that is probably difficult to resell, because the colors are more monochrome, and the 2014 version of the same square is still prettier (but not available for sale). The 2020 version has more details but loses in colors. But this gavroche speaks to me because I love the perfumes in the “Un Jardin…” collection, the design comes from the drawing made for the box of the perfume of the same name, there’s a real story behind it. The gavroche is part of the Fall-Winter 2019 collection.

Description :

Gavroche in twill 100% silk.
In the hair, around the neck, on the bag, our smallest square format is easy to wear. Its sparkling colors will twist your look instantly.

Made in FranceDesigned
by Philippe DumasDimensions
: 45 x 45 cm


Price : 175€

A Rooftop Garden is first and foremost this green, wooded terrace in the 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré. It has existed since the mid-1920s, when Émile Hermès undertook to raise the building, increase the surface area of the store and leather workshops, and set up a curiosity cabinet for his collection. This hanging garden, called the “vessel” of the house, is part of its history. The sewing models were photographed there as early as the 1930s, potatoes were grown there to feed the staff during the Second World War, Robert Dumas planted an apple tree there, and his son Jean-Louis decided to turn these apples into jelly. In 1987, for the 150th anniversary of the house, a horse rider was installed there! Reseda, impatience, crocuses, hawthorn, sage, roses, tulips, apples… over the years have created a real “garden of pleasure that is all about it, and sings us to love life” says perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena when, in 2011, this luxuriant urban vegetation inspires him to create an eau de toilette. Philippe Dumas, who has known this garden since his early childhood, creates for the occasion, with a lively and charming line, one of these drawings of which he has the secret.

The hardest thing for me would be the maintenance of this gavroche. I don’t know how I’m going to explain to the Thai or Indian dry cleaner the concept of the rolled edges not to crush the lol and the prohibition to use the pins. Not easy!

Even at the French dry cleaners, they do not necessarily know the principle of the rolled edges that should not be flattened with an iron. To find out if a dry cleaner knows how to do it or not, I’ll ask questions like “hello, are you used to cleaning Hermes squares?” “So you know about edges?” and I let them tell me what they know about edges ahaha. If they just say “yes yes” without giving details, I don’t trust them. In Rouen, I found a dry cleaner who takes care of it very well: Euro Pressing, place saint-marc

For those who don’t trust anyone, here’s a homemade cleaning method, shared by my favorite blogger Sonia. You can read her permanent stories here, she has a lot of anecdotes about her squares. She bought “blind” a square that turned out to be so rare that even Hermes wanted to buy it back from her to put in her museum.

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I hope you enjoyed this review and who knows, it will make you want to walk through the doors of a Hermès boutique. A big thank you to my sister who took all these beautiful pictures because I must admit that as soon as the squares are taken out, as soon as they are put away, you have to be very quick to take all these pictures.

If you like luxurious experiences in the capital, you should know that we have already written an article about the Dior boutique on Place Vendôme, solitaires at Tiffany, personalized jewelry at a jeweler, Tea Time at the Ritz, for my birthday 2 years ago. As well as the 5 star hotel bars to discover in Paris.