It was purely by chance that I ended up at the «Orient-Hermès» exhibition a few days after the death of Jean-Louis Dumas, the luxury brand's celebrated boss. I'd arranged to visit the Institut du monde arabe weeks before with my students from Parsons School of Design.
In we all trooped, ready to be enchanted by the opulent window displays of Leïla Menchari, who has been head of merchandising at the Hermès flagship store in Paris since… well, forever. The museum has squeezed a lot out of this slender exhibition, which features reconstructions of eight store windows. Surrounding the vitrines are live demonstrations by silk weavers, saddle-makers and other artisans who've been involved with Hermès and its chief decorator.
«I want to buy it,» said one of the students, pointing to a jewelled Hermès handbag in one of the display cases. And here is where things get tricky, because although «Orient-Hermès» is being promoted as an exhibition, it is in fact a colossal piece of luxury brand marketing.
Even the accompanying video is a series of films depicting Hermès window displays from the past, the camera drooling over silk ties and calfskin wallets. It's a triumph: an interactive ad in one of the city's most politically correct spaces. It makes Karl Lagerfeld and his redesigned Coca-Cola Light bottle look a bit lightweight.
