Leonard Fashion for Hermes - 1961

Spring 1961

 In 1960, Daniel Tribouillard, Chief Executive Director of Leonard Fashion, invented a new printing process which allowed for knit fabric to be continuously printed.  In the early years of the fashion division of Leonard, the company made exclusive designs for other design houses.  Shown here today are two of their early sweaters for Hermes.

Fall 1960

Both sweaters were a blend of lightweight wool and Crylor acrylic.  How can you go wrong with ballerinas and butterflies?

Ever Wonder Why an Hermes Scarf is so Expensive?

Because every step is done by hand by individual craftsmen.



In this video, you will first see an artist working on the design for a scarf.  Then you will see the process for screening the 10th and final color on a scarf.  As the gentleman says, if the printing of any of the colors is off, the scarf is destroyed.



In this video, you will see the intricate process of hand rolling the hem on an Hermes scarf.  Each scarf is a work of art!

Hermes Trompe L'oeil Dresses - 1952

For Spring 1952, Hermes Paris devised these wonderfully simple dresses that have anything but a simple effect.  Plain lengths of fabric were screen printed with painted details like lapels, buttons and pockets.  The fabric was then cut and sewn into the clever dresses shown here.

The dresses were copied with permission in the US by Herbert Sondheim later in 1952.  The Sondheim dresses were made of rayon that was woven to look like linen and, due to the screen printing, they were dry clean only.  Each dress style was made available in 4 colors: white, navy, black and copper.  The Sondheim copies sold for $29.95 in 1952 (about $259 in today's dollar.)

Another style available from Sondheim, this dress has 3/4 sleeves and a flowing scarf printed on the bodice.  Sold for $39.95 in 1952 (about $346 in today's dollar.)

And another version, this one with painted top-stitching along the lapels and pockets.  Sold for $29.95 in 1952 (about $259 in today's dollar.)

Meanwhile, back in Paris, Hermes applied the same technique to raincoats.  The buttons and pockets are screen-printed and the coat closes with a hidden zipper in the front.  As far as I can tell, the coats were not copied here in the US.  The coat sold for $100 in 1952 (about $866 in today's dollar.)

Trompe l'oeil hood painted on the back of the coat.

All photos by Gordon Parks for Life Magazine, 1952.

Weekend Eye Candy - Hermes, 1960

It seems appropriate after our look at wearing plaids this week that this gorgeous coat and suit set by Hermes from 1960 should come along.  Note how the designer uses the same plaid in different sizes so they combine beautifully.