HERMES SILK MUFFLER- LES LEOPARDS
by CHRISTIANNE VAUZELLES
Originally designed in 1967, Les Leopards features two big cats grinning mischievously at each other in a stylized field of flowers. It was originally designed for a beach towel, then morphed into a carre, a 140cm cashmere, half of a 90 wash carre (with Francoise de la Perriere's Bouclerie d'Attelage), twillies, a twill-up, enamel bracelets, napkin rings, a change tray...
This seemingly inescapable design honestly doesn't do anything for me. I always found the leopards not quite silly enough. The way they're sitting is awkward. And the muffler format - I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between a muffler, a maxi twilly, a maxi twilly cut (I find them all challenging to knot well).
And yet...
Just like Tea for Two, I homed in on the black background with the contrast hem. I tried it on in the boutique, loved it, walked away having been assured there were plenty in the system, and was crushed when I returned to find it had sold out. Fast forward a couple of years and it shows up on a resale site. Hadn't seen one before, haven't seen one since. This time I didn't hesitate to add it to YOSD.
From the Hermes Story Behind:
The talented designer Christiane Vauzelles collaborated with Robert Dumas from 1958. The Tourbillon, Pivoines and Tigre Royal scarves created by her reflect her talent for composition. Originally intended for a beach towel, this charming leopard design has a certain simple, light and graphic quality. These young felines with a joyful expression seem to evoke a Roman mosaic with the effective simplicity of the features. The creatures are conjured before our eyes, palpably alive, ready to pounce into the graceful rough-and-tumble of a game, as only they know how.
This seemingly inescapable design honestly doesn't do anything for me. I always found the leopards not quite silly enough. The way they're sitting is awkward. And the muffler format - I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between a muffler, a maxi twilly, a maxi twilly cut (I find them all challenging to knot well).
And yet...
Just like Tea for Two, I homed in on the black background with the contrast hem. I tried it on in the boutique, loved it, walked away having been assured there were plenty in the system, and was crushed when I returned to find it had sold out. Fast forward a couple of years and it shows up on a resale site. Hadn't seen one before, haven't seen one since. This time I didn't hesitate to add it to YOSD.
From the Hermes Story Behind:
The talented designer Christiane Vauzelles collaborated with Robert Dumas from 1958. The Tourbillon, Pivoines and Tigre Royal scarves created by her reflect her talent for composition. Originally intended for a beach towel, this charming leopard design has a certain simple, light and graphic quality. These young felines with a joyful expression seem to evoke a Roman mosaic with the effective simplicity of the features. The creatures are conjured before our eyes, palpably alive, ready to pounce into the graceful rough-and-tumble of a game, as only they know how.
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