Hermes & the Greatest Window Show on Earth -- Part II

Inspired by her life in Paris as a student and then a journalist, Rosalind de Rolon is launching spectacular insider trips to France, beginning with Mother-Daughter Paris & Royal France during Spring Break 2011. (For information, visit www.RoseJourney.com)

In 1981, as a young journalist, she was invited by the French Foreign Ministry to cover Parisian high fashion.  The senior editor of the newspaper Le Matin provided her the introductions necessary to enter that very private world. 

Leila Menchari, the longtime designer of Hermes's magical Faubourg Saint- Honoré flagship-store windows - the most exquisite and elite on earth - takes Rosalind through the Hermes family's private museum, which showcases their history:  The Hermes forebear, Thierry Hermes, took miniature examples of his magnificent creations to the courts of Europe in search of special orders, and these elegant objects are displayed in the museum.

If Hermes once traveled to the courts of Europe, the world's powerful now pay court to Hermes, stopping in admiration at the Faubourg store.

"Look at this guest book," Leila says.  "This is the new volume, about 15 years old."  Sprinkled among names of Arabian princesses are American signatures:  J. Onassis, Andy Warhol, Jimmy Carter of Georgia.

Leila points to Napoleon III's toilette case with its seven razors, one for each day of the week.

"There was an art to life then," she says.  "Art is the best teacher regarding how to live.  Reality is hard and superb at once and at the moment of balance, it is just.  We still have clients who live like that."

Those clients' special orders, however, are in a secret book, off the record.  Special orders, like all Hermes products, are born of a team effort and handmade on the premises.

Leila stresses that Hermes makes objects, not fashions.  "The difference between an object and a fashion is that an object is well made, doesn't follow fashion and doesn't risk being rejected over time.  It increases in value.  It lasts all one's life and goes on as a masterpiece.  It is a way of being loved; in fact, our work is an act of faith."

Leila's own work consists of showcasing Hermes objects throughout the house and in the windows.  "I put each one in context, so one understands immediately that this is something a little exceptional," she says.

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In a typically Hermesian process of creativity, the museum's antique silk tassels and cords (called "passementerie" in French) inspired the new silk scarf "Passementerie." It in turn inspired Leila's winter windows - shimmering pastel settings for mythological beasts and magical objects like Pegasus, a unicorn, the new scarf, furs and jewels.

"I'm putting a lot of fur in the windows, so I need a lot of imagery like a fairy tale; fur is a winter fairy tale to forget one is cold," Leila says.

Seamstresses are making pale-satin jewel pillows and mannequin covers; whatever Leila's team cannot make is ordered from Parisian artisans trained in centuries-old skills.

Famed antique dealer Kugel will lend a collection of rare ivories.  A celebrated theatrical painter, Pierre-Marie Rudelle, is creating a trompe l'oeil curtain for the street theater.

It took time for Leila to grow accustomed to using Paris's rich artistic resources.

"Everyone said, 'Leila, stop dreaming, put your feet on the ground.' And Mme. Beaumel said, 'Dream, Leila, and we will realize your dreams.  All means are at our disposal.' It was like discovering a genie in a magic lamp!"

Leila may seem to exist in a perfect never-never land beyond time, space and budgetary restraints, but she is a dedicated, disciplined artists.

"When one starts a décor, it is like pulling a thread - one finds extraordinary possibilities in pulling it.  It is like taking a  trip in time, in materials, in crafts - one doesn't know where it will end.  But one must be obsessed with the vision, persevere and search."

Leila had to persevere on her quest for the unicorn and Pegasus.

"I was trying to describe my unicorn to the sculptor:  'It is part horse, a little bit of goat.'  The sculptor was going mad," she laughs.  "Finally, one manages to create the fabulous animal that exists but does not exist, that symbolizes an idea - voilà!"

***

Like a painter, Leila bases her décors on artistic principles.  "The most difficult element is movement," she says.  "The décor is immobile but must appear animated, like a still life."

She deliberately uses rare objects and colors to add a special ingredient to her compositions - mystery.

"Mystery is what makes one dream most.  It leaves a slight shadow that requires each person to complete the vision with his own imagination."

To Leila, who wouldn't dream of ignoring her public, mystery is a form of politeness.  "Mystery is a gift," she says.  "It honors the individual."

Viewers may contribute to the Hermes vision, but each décor is complete in itself; everything blends imperceptibly.

"It is like beautiful music, but only because all the musicians must play well," Leila says.  "This is the orchestration of quality, and it is the only way to create enchantment."

Leila may be an enchantress, but she is not an illusionist.  Everything she displays exists in life.

"The passersby aren't deceived - they can find the object they desire.  That is the magic:  The object is going to live with me and remind me each day that beautiful things exist."

One passerby was so mesmerized by Leila's window, he insisted on taking it home.

"He was a Swiss diamond merchant sporting rhinoceros cufflinks, buttons and walking-stick," Leila says.

"It was 1968, and I had made a white rhinoceros covered in Hermes leather.  My rhinoceros had a golden horn, agate eyes and pink-enameled nails. She was a great young lady."

The diamond merchant insisted on buying the display.

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Author's note to Dallas readers:  The objects from Leila's décors live on, as they are distributed worldwide among the Hermes boutiques and used in their own displays.  The Dallas Hermes store in Highland Park Village, for instance, contains, on a shelf towering over the shop, one of the pale, mythological beasts Leila was creating for the décor described in this story...