Just a few months ago, the Saatchi played host to one of the biggest French fashion houses of all time, Chanel.The Little Black Jacket exhibition was a huge success, so the question thats arisen now is; is this the start of a fashion takeover at the Saatchi?
They have now partnered with another prestigious French house, Hèrmes. Renowned for their beautiful leather bags and silk scarves, the latest exhibition looks at the craftsmanship behind their products.
I hadn't read much about the exhibit and only heard about it the day before so I went in with a completely open mind. All I can say is I wasn't disappointed. I find some exhibitions quite tedious, some bore me to sleep if I'm honest and I can whizz round them within half an hour. Do not expect this here.
Hèrmes have got some of their most skilled craftsmen together to show you, the public, exactly how they make their luxury items and it really is so interesting. From tie making to creating the iconic Birkin everything you needed to know about Hèrmes accessories is here.
It was incredible to see the skill and patience that goes in to creating their most well known pieces. The Birkin, for example, takes 25 hours to create and each bag is created by just one person. They said that from a line up they can pick out who made which bag!
There was also a woman creating a Hèrmes diamond encrusted bracelet and another pulling thread from the infamous scarves to create different textures, the detail and precision was incredible One part that really amazed me was the woman who created the drawings for the silk printed scarves, being extremely unskilled in drawing myself, things like this never cease to amaze me. The patience and attention to detail was awe inspiring. They said it takes 600 - 800 hours to draw out a simple pattern and about 1200 hours for a detailed pattern such as the Indian lady seen in the photos. To have that much patience and skill really emphasises how much effort is put in to these products, it is so refreshing to know that luxury does still exist, it seems you really are getting your moneys worth with Hèrmes products and they have proved this in magnificent style.
The tables were laid out as they would be in the work shop, it was beautifully authentic and the use of French craftsmen shows how important heritage is to the brand.
So much thought was put in to the exhibit from the carpet to the ceiling. It was so different from the Chanel exhibition, and I feel a lot more exciting. I have never been to an exhibition like this before, it was so exciting and I hope more fashion houses plan to host exhibits like this in the future.
Being a student I found it great that the exhibit is completely free (yep, you heard correctly!) so I suggest you get down there asap. It finishes on the 26th May so hurry as you do not want to miss this!
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