THE ART OF MOVEMENT

Saddlemaker to the kings of France, creator of the most vaunted bags in the world, Hermès has become a household name since its inception in the 1800s. With a rich archival treasure trove, and creative scions who seized the opportunity of the day, Hermès has created a new, classic vocabulary for totes and accessories. In a Bazaar India exclusive, Priscila Alexandre Spring, Creative Director of Hermès Leather Goods, speaks to us from Paris.

- PRIYA KUMARI RANA

Think Hermès, and the most coveted bag in the world, the Birkin, comes to mind. Rumoured unending wait-lists aside, it pays to take a peek at the French maison that’s behind some of the most iconic bags, accessories, and travel paraphernalia, coming at an age when intercontinental travel and motoring was a luxury, and being a voyageur, the ultimate status symbol.

Born in 1837 as a harness and saddlemaker, and supplier of leather and silk goods, Thierry Hermès catered to aristocrats and royals, from Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie—crafting a rocking horse for their son Prince Eugène—to Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Thierry’s eponymous brand became famous for its logo of a horse-drawn carriage, or light calèche against an orange background. In fact, one of the sections of the special travelling exhibition that stopped over in Ballard Estate, Mumbai, last November, entitled ‘Hermès Heritage in Motion’, is dedicated to the very concept of ‘Movement is Elegance’—harking to the spirit of travel that really took off in the 1920s under the stewardship of Thierry’s son Emile, who had shifted the maison to a tony Parisian address on Faubourg Saint-Honoré. From a bicycle to roller skates to a skateboard, Hermès has revealed its desire to roam— on horse, by car, or by air—creating leather bags famed for their efficacy, construction, and sheer style.

“Hermès has been in motion since it was created in 1837,” says Priscila Alexandre Spring, Creative Director of Hermès Leather Goods, over a phone call from Paris. “We have been adapting and following the evolution of lifestyles and new technology.”