Les Artisans d'Hermès

Akira Yamaguchi designed Les Artisans d’Hermès for the Hermès Spring/Summer 2020. As described in the Hermès booklet, Akira Yamaguchi is an artist from Tokyo who is inspired by traditional pictorial forms, which he interprets in a personal and innovative way. Invited to France by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, he discovered the different facets of Hermes. This composition is a meeting of Japanese culture and Lyon silk know-how and pays tribute to the artisans. At the centre of the design are two Samurai: a woman riding a horse motorcycle and a man holding its reins. This modern chimaera is surrounded by scenes depicting the Faubourg Saint-Honoré store in Paris and the silk, leather, and saddlery workshops.

From a birds-eye view, breaking through the clouds, a Japanese lady is looking at the displays in store windows of 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and appreciating the most magical windows of Hermès.

At the centre of the carré, the marble patterns frame two Samurai with some blank spaces. Outside of the marble strips, four corners depict the fusion of Japanese culture and Lyon silk know-how. The “Fancy Tail knot” can showcase two diagonal corners at the same time.

It would be lovely to overlap the corners of King Alfred’s Tower, Hermès Faubourg 24 Saint-Honoré store, and the silk workroom at Bourgoin. The other combination is the silk factory at Lyon and the Saddler Workshop from the opposite corner.

The necklace was made for Les Artisans d’Hermès. The idea was inspired by “blown off the roof” painting techniques from the Heian period. I imagined a koi fish pond, cherry blossoms, and bamboo located outside the artist’s windows.