Hermès never fails to impress with stellar events that bring together whimsy and marketing. I am a fan and rarely turn-down an invitation when one of its thick paper invitations arrives in my mail box.
This past September it opened the Toronto edition of the Hermès Carré Club, a cabaret-inspired pop-up café that celebrated the history and craft of the brand’s signature silk scarves. (I loved how scarf patterns were arranged on the floor like colourful tile work.) The space launched with a fun cocktail party during which a few of the artists behind those famous scarves gave guests a rare glimpse into how they work.
Graffiti artist Cyril Kongo – the man behind the 2011 Hermès Graff scarf – worked with spray cans to create personalized art pieces in his distinct street style.
Italian artist Gianpaolo Pagni is known for reinventing the appearance of old documents by layering them with stamps. At this station he worked with line drawings of classic patterns from the Hermes archives that were printed on plain silk. He then block printed on top of them to create mod new interpretations.
But my favourite was the artist Cyrille Diatkine, who was painting line-drawing portraits of guests on site. Over the years I have collected a number of line drawings that Hermès has used in their marketing campaigns. I simply HAD to get my portrait done and stood in line for over an hour until I finally got to sit for him.
And here is the portrait he drew that night – definitely worth the wait!