Gem Mon Carray

Like I said earlier on, it was going to be a scarfy week and the culmination of all things scarfy was of course the opening of the Herm√®s J'aime Mon Carr√© pop up store at the Rochelle School of Art in Shoreditch which will be there for four days only and then moving over West for a longer period of time.  I was there in spirit last night listening to Warpaint, swaying around in 90×90 cm silk squares and soaking up the genius visual merchandising that Herm√®s has put into this temporary installation. Ok blub blub…I wasn't in fact there in person but I swear I played tribute by getting my head into some scarfy action last night in New York around about the same time the pop-up store shenanigans were going on.

I did drop by the Rochelle School the day before yesterday to check out the complicated set-up proceedings only to find everything was still very much in progress so instead I asked photographer Mattias Bj√∂rklund (who has a Selby-alternative photo site worth checking out…) to go down in my place to take some far more professional pictures to a) give me a better idea of what the finished shebang is like and b) to urge people to get down there even if I am missing out on the four day Rochelle-stop (may make up for it by going out West… maaaaaybe)

Whilst Herm√®s is re-affirming its values and history as a house, on the flipside, the J'aime Mon Carr√© project which has had its own brilliant microsite for a while now, takes the scarf and breathes youth into it making everyone want to fork out ¬£70 plus for a scarf and have some twisted and knotted fun with it.  Photographer Matt Irwin and the chosen bevy of girls and boys across four cities as well as styling by Francesca Burns has pumped vigour into the project as seen on the microsite.  It's a javascript warren but be patient and ye shall yield pic after pic after pic, instructional knot cards that are fully comprehensive and films that make you question WHY silk scarves aren't adorning everyone in some way or another (I believe this also comes in paper form in the specially created fanzine which is a must-pick-up in the pop up stores too…).  

The physical representation of the project plays out in the Rochelle Art School, awash with familiar Herm√®s traits mingling with newer ones – the scarves themselves twisted and draped in the most lux maypole ever as well as those familiar boxes piled up into an installation to house some of the film content as well a incorporated into a dressing table feature where you can peer at yourself tying all kinds of knots from head to toe.  Styling help will be on hand at both pop-up ventures as well as the opportunity to have a take-away portrait snapped by Ben Dunbar-Brunton. 

I may be missing out on the pop-up in East and the creative styling of the scarves given its Shoreditch location but I'll be sure to get some scarfy action going on when I get back…

Hermès J'aime Mon Carré pop up store London dates:

18th to 21st November at Rochelle School Of Art, Club Row Entrance, Arnold Circus, London, E2 7ES
25st Nov – 9th Dec at 79 – 81 Ledbury Road, London, W11 2AG

All photographs here by Mattias Björklund