French fashion house Hermes partners up with Paisley to bring patterns to Paris
A famous French fashion house is partnering up with the town of Paisley to bring the world-famous patterns to Paris.
Maison Hermes is creating an exclusive “Paisley from Paisley” range for its 2019 spring/summer silk and accessories collections.
A team from the French capital visited Paisley Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Paisley shawls with thousands of original designs, and the town’s Abbey last year.
The visit happened after Penny Martin, editor-in-chief of The Gentlewoman magazine, contacted Hermes following her own visit to the town as a keynote speaker for 2016’s PaisleyMake textiles and fashion conference.
Designs that the fashion house selected during their trip have now been adapted into a cashmere chale scarf, a gavroche scarf and a bangle.
Christine Duvigneau was in charge of artistic direction and development of the project.
She said: “We were delighted to collaborate with Paisley and hope our designs will serve as an ambassador for Paisley worldwide.”
Versions of the gavroche and bangle are being donated to the town and will be displayed at the museum when it reopens in 2022 after a £42 million renovation.
Dr Dan Coughlan, textiles curator at Paisley Museum, said: “During the 18th and 19th centuries, Paisley was one of the leading towns in Europe for the manufacture of high-quality fashion fabrics.
“The fine silk gauzes and figured muslins of the 18th century, followed by the 19th century shawl, were in demand in all the fashion circles of Europe. Much of the legacy of this great textile tradition is now preserved in Paisley Museum.
“The textile collection in the museum holds what is thought to be the largest collection of shawls in the world, together with many pattern and sample books, including those which so inspired the incredible Hermes design team.
“This collaboration shows the extraordinarily rich and varied collection can be used by today’s designers to continue Paisley’s tradition of creating beautiful high-quality textiles with provenance, while raising awareness of the town’s internationally-significant story.”
