‘Flanerie a Versailles’ (A Stroll through Versailles) Surteint/Dip-Dye?

The ultimate gift for the historian, garden lover, or Francophile in your life; or a reminder of the maginficent backdrop to the Paris Equestrian Olympics, this sought after Hermes Scarf takes you on an enchanted walk through the famous A la Francaise Gardens of Château de Versailles. Designed in 2016 by Pierre-Marie.

We believe that our example, which comes in the most gorgeous muted dark colouring, black borders, glowing earthy greens and clear blues and purple (and is much darker than the photography would suggest), is unique – inadvertently ‘surteint’, a process that Hermes applies to some of its designs.

The surteint dip-dyeing technique softens the sharp contrasts of the original print, resulting in a more subtle, often dreamlike appearance. The silk also becomes exceptionally soft, almost velvety to the touch.  This process often leads to unique and unexpected colour combinations, making each scarf a one-of-a-kind piece, sometimes used to create a vintage or aged look on a scarf, adding to its character.

Some popular designs that have been produced using the surteint technique include “Les Cles” and “Tigre Royal”. Surteint scarves which typically retail at a higher price than their original counterparts, are easily recognised, as the colour wash dyes the care label, as seen in our example attached.

However, we have no record of Flanerie a Versailles ever having been officially produced in a ‘surteint’ version, and can only conclude that our example is either a Hermes one-off experiment, or somebody’s extremely beautiful mistake!  Condition: 0/10 or 10/10, depending on your point of view!  We have included a picture of what we believe the original colourway is supposed to be, and an example of a surteint care label.

Hermes writes:  “Official residence of the French kings and court for a century until the French Revolution of 1789, the palace of Versailles remains Louis XIV’s great legacy. The Sun King replaced his father Louis XIII’s simple hunting lodge with a palace symbolizing the power of the monarchy, and it became the perfect expression of French classical art. Inspired by the paths in the park, which are the ultimate example of the French Garden, the design of Flânerie à Versailles leads us from the King’s Chamber to the Hall of Mirrors, from the Latone Fountain to the Queen’s Hamlet, without forgetting the Grand Perspective, landscape architect André Le Nôtre’s masterpiece.”

Born in 1982 in Nogent-sur-Marne (France), Pierre-Marie Agin lives and works in Paris.

He started to work freelance under the name of Pierre Marie, while still pursuing his art studies in which he specialised in typography, graphic design and drawing.

His early and daily practice of drawing led him first to design exclusive prints for two artists’ t-shirts collections for Agnes B. During his studies, Pierre Marie befriended and worked with exciting fashion designers of his generation such as Melodie Wolf, Yazbudkey, Romain Kremer and Bernhard Willhelm.

Through these encounters, Peirre Marie extended his knowledge in the fashion field and nourished his acute sense of style. Concurrently, he collaborated on various projects with prestigious brands and institutions such as Sonia Rykiel, Issey Miyake, Veuve Flicquot, L’Opera National de Paris and the Yvon Lambert gallery. These collaborations were published in various publications and are part of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs de Paris collection. His expertise also led to an invitation to lecture at Cal Arts in 2006.

2008 was the start of his long-lasting and prolific collaboration with Hermes. Following an encounter with Bali Barret, he designed several of the brand’s emblematic carres, and he designed prints for Chrisophe Lemair’s ready-to-wear line – making Pierre Marie one of the youngest active designers of Hermes.

At the same time, Pierre Marie worked closely with the perfume company Diptyque, developing drawings for a range of perfumes and scented candles.

Over the years, he has created over 30 different silk scarves, as well as a card deck.