Luxurious Hermés Automotive Scarves

Nov/Dec 2020  edition
Issue #13 AutoMobilia Resource Magazine
​Bonnie Singer - Guest Columnist

Above and below right: Les Bolides (the Racing Cars): Sold in a variety of different beautiful and vibrant color variations.

In my last article I wrote about the variety of automotive art on vintage silk scarves.  Of those produced by luxury fashion brands, the most sought after remain the scarves made in France by Hermès. 

​Hermès first began producing scarves in the mid-1930s, a product line that has only increased in popularity.  Even with the modern technologies available today, Hermès painstakingly produces designs as they did decades ago.  It takes approximately 18 months for a new design to be created, start to finish.  Each design is produced in multiple color palettes ranging from three or four unique combinations, to over a dozen.
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These are their four most iconic automotive designs:
    LES BOLIDES (the Racing Cars), first produced in 1967, with re-issues in 1998 and 2003.  The horizontal speeding cars are within a gorgeous floral Art Nouveau border.  The design is attributed to Rena Dumas, an architect/interior designer who worked for Hermès in that capacity while her husband was CEO of the company, but also has been credited to Françoise Façonnet. 
 
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Above: Les Parures du Vent (Wind Adornments): Shown here in blue. The black, and white color combinations are pictured below right.

LES PARURES DU VENT (Wind Adornments), first produced in 1991 with a reissue in 1998.  The design by Joachim Metz is of classic hood ornaments and auto club medallions in gold or silver, beautifully rendered in an all-over design.

Automobile: Comes in a variety of different color combinations, with navy pictured here.

AUTOMOBILE, produced for the 1996/97 collection and not reissued.  This is another Joachim Metz design showing a collage of various vintage cars, with the Maybach hood ornament prominently featured.

L’Élégance et le Confort en Auto (Elegance and Comfort in the Car): Comes in a variety of different color combinations, with yellow pictured above, and red pictured below right.

L’ÉLÉGANCE ET LE CONFORT EN AUTO (Elegance and Comfort in the Car), produced in 1996 and designed by Caty Latham, a scarf designer for Hermès for over 45 years.  The wonderful Art Deco images are about leisure travel and picnics, full of interesting details.  
    I often encounter the question of what to look for in determining authenticity, as counterfeit items in luxury brands are not uncommon.  There are several clear signs to look for with Hermès scarves:

​FABRIC:  Hermès scarves are made only of heavy 100% silk twill fabric and, regardless where sold, are manufactured only in France.  That being said, the language on the fabric tag may be French or English, but any other language is evidence of a fake.  Likewise is any fabric other than doubleweight silk twill.

Showing detail of Red scarf.

HEMS:  All genuine Hermès scarves, without exception, have hems, hand-rolled to the front (vibrant side), and stitched with thread that is an exact color match with the border.  Hems rolled back and/or machine stitched with an overlock stitch are counterfeits. 

SIZE:  Nearly all measure 35"x35", although there are some special editions that are 24"x24", and some pocket squares that measure 17"x17".

COPYRIGHT:  All authentic scarves have the © Hermès (with the proper accent mark), and/or Hermès-Paris prominently in the design.  

​COLORS: Hermès scarves usually have 32-48 colors per design, with artists spending up to six months developing the palette.  The fakes have far fewer colors, sometimes less than a dozen.

In addition to the new scarves for each seasonal collection, on occasion Hermès has produced special scarves to commemorate a noteworthy event, such as the 2009 spectacular silver and gray scarf to honor Bugatti’s 100th anniversary.  Pictured left.

Other times, rather than creating an entirely new design for a commemorative scarf, Hermès altered a single detail within an existing design. 

Above: LES BOLIDES of 1967 served as the original design to honor later Les 24 Heures du Mans, most likely with the 1998 re-issue for the race event’s 75th anniversary.  For this French blue and yellow scarf, instead of the usual flower in each corner, there is a floral “24.” ​

Similarly, a scarf honoring the 100th anniversary of the Automobile Club of France in 1995 featured a hood ornament near the top of the design with the ACF initials and the dates, which later was produced as the AUTOMOBILE design in the 1996/97 winter collection, with a change in the colors, and substituting the Maybach 12 hood ornament for the ACF one. (see picture left)

Lastly, is an extraordinarily rare early scarf, circa 1962, entitled PETITE HISTOIRE DE L’AUTOMOBILE and designed by Hugo Grygkar that was made by Hermès specifically for the Lord & Taylor department store in New York. Pictured right. Apologies, we didn't have a high-quality picture of this one.

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Hermès scarves are readily found on the internet through eBay and other websites, though reproductions are not uncommon. The non-commemorative scarves discussed here come in many color combinations, and prices vary primarily by condition and color desirability. Those in mint or nearly new condition range generally from approximately $295-$695, with the limited issue scarves selling for approximately $750-$1,500 or higher. 

Bonnie Singer

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