History of the Hermès Silk Scarf

Since the first Hermès silk scarf titled “Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches” was designed by Robert Dumas in 1937, there have been an additional 2000 patterns created by various artists. Each scarf, considered a wearable work of art, can take up to 750 hours to engrave before being hand screened onto the finest heavy weight silk. The edges are then rolled and stitched by hand.

The generous size of Hermès scarves makes them versatile and allows the fashionista dozens of choices for wearing. In 1957 Grace Kelly was photographed wearing her scarf as an arm sling while boarding the Onassis yacht in Monaco and Mrs. Kennedy famously wore hers as a head scarf while watching the America’s Cup with the President in 1962.

Only one American has thus far been chosen to design an Hermès scarf, Kermit Oliver (Born 1943, TX). Mr. Oliver is a well respected African American artist who worked much of his life as a mail sorter for the US Postal Service. He was introduced to Hermès by Lawrence Marcus of the upscale store Neiman Marcus and the 17 designs he created over the past 32 years are highly sought.