“I think that unconsciously, when Pierre-Alexis [Dumas] He thought of you to write this book at 24 Faubourg, it’s because he didn’t want a book at 24 Faubourg. » This is what author and journalist Frédéric Laffont says as he opens the door to the historic Hermès headquarters, located at 24 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, in Paris. The phrase comes from the mouth of Menehould de Bazelaire, guardian of the house’s heritage, who is referred to only by name in the work, like all the protagonists, from the bosses to the workers.
Frédéric Laffont, who had already dedicated a documentary in 2011 to the luxury brand whose capital remains predominantly family-owned (a rarity), was however invited by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, chief artistic director, to immerse himself in the inverted premises. 1880. This, in order to try to capture this mysterious “spirit of the house”, intelligent mix of tradition, erudition and joie de vivre.
In fact, the result is nothing like the usual and complacent sums that the luxury industry prints with all its might, beautiful books that often end up collecting dust on marble tables. At number 24 Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, published by l’Iconoclaste, it progresses more like a chronological story of 270 pages, tender, divided into lyrical chapters called “songs” and accompanied by some photographs taken among the 21,266 historical objects and documents of all kinds preserved in the Emile Hermès “museum” (a private collection that only guests visit).
The “smurf town”
Fun family, the Hermès! Making them a subject of exotic study, Frédéric Laffont chooses to represent them as a “tribe”, with its rites and myths. Their customs have here and there parallels with those of other ethnic groups, from the Kuna of Panama to the Zulu of South Africa, from the aborigines of Australia to the Baruya of Papua New Guinea. Faubourg 24? The equivalent of “Smurf Town”, Author Pascale Mussard, fashion personality, family member, also slides in in a fun way.
Although the book recalls the signatures of Hermès (the zipper, the equestrian references, the seams of the saddle and its fourteen points separated by 2,707 centimeters, the silk squares launched in 1937), what fascinates above all is the poetry of the inhabitants of the house. They all have the characteristics of the characters. In the still too narrow building at number 24 Faubourg, the reader meets Annie Beaumel, the window dressing magician; “Papa Tortilla”, a saddler always ready to attack; Frédérick, the furrier who wrote a letter in Alexandria to the CEO to inform him of his desire to become a designer; Jinny, the saree seller; the “Blouse Brothers”, two foremen brothers who never take off their white coats; or Yasmina, the gardener who watches over the terrace while chatting about quantum physics…
You have 33.71% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
