The secrets of the Hermès carré
Ninety centimetres square, silk printed in Lyon, edges hand-rolled: since 1937, the carré has become far more than a scarf. The story of a cult object.
It fits in a pocket, it can be tied a hundred ways, and some women own dozens without ever having worn two the same way. The Hermès carré is one of those rare fashion objects that have spanned almost a century without ageing a day, to the point of becoming a subject of study for collectors.
Born in 1937
Hermès began as a saddlery house, founded in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès to make harnesses for carriages. A hundred years later, in 1937, the house launched its first silk carré. Its design, Jeu des omnibus et dames blanches, was inspired by a nineteenth-century board game. The format was already set: ninety centimetres square.
That format has barely changed since. It is large enough to be worn as a wrap or stole, small enough to be knotted around the neck, over the head or on the handle of a bag.
How it is made
Here lies part of its mystery. The carré begins as an original drawing entrusted to an artist, then engraved colour by colour: each shade in the design requires its own screen. The most complex carrés have several dozen colours, and therefore as many passes. Printing takes place in the Lyon region, the historic cradle of French silk.
Then come the finishing touches, perhaps the detail connoisseurs appreciate most: the edges are rolled and stitched by hand, towards the right side of the carré. This small rounded hem is one of the surest ways to recognise an authentic carré from the house.
Queen Elizabeth II often wore an Hermès carré knotted under her chin during her stays in the country, notably at Balmoral. The image did much to make the carré a symbol of relaxed aristocratic elegance, that of weekends on horseback and walks across the moors.
Thousands of designs
Since 1937, the house has created hundreds of designs, and it releases new ones every season. The themes are often linked to the house’s equestrian origins, but not only: the sea, botany, travel, heraldry, history, animals. Some old designs are regularly reissued in new colourways; others have become impossible to find and are snapped up on the second-hand market.
A hundred ways to wear it
The house itself has published illustrated guides to tying its carrés. Among the most classic ways:
- Folded into a triangle and knotted under the chin, English-style.
- Rolled into a headband in the hair.
- Tied in a small knot around the neck, over a blouse.
- Draped over the shoulders like a light stole.
- Tied to the handle of a bag, as a touch of colour.
Recognising one
A genuine carré is recognised by the suppleness and weight of its silk, the sharpness of the print, the hand-stitched rolled hem, the artist’s signature often slipped into the design, and the name of the house in one corner. Counterfeits abound: if the price seems too good to be true, it is.
You do not simply wear a carré. You choose it, then you learn to tie it.
