winning scarf designs from LE GRAND PRIX DU CARRÉ HERMÈS!

in 2019, for the first time ever, Hermès organized an international scarf design competition, LE GRAND PRIX DU CARRÉ HERMÈS — free, and open to designers, artists, illustrators, and draftsmen. more than 11,000 creatives hailing from 123 countries registered for the competition, setting their sights on designing an Hermès design, with designboom establishing a new world record in the organization of international creative competitions.

after examining the applications, the Hermès jury selected nearly 100 candidates to participate in the second phase of the competition, which has seen each contender outline their presentation for the design of an Hermès scarf. from those applications, 11 finalists were chosen from around the world — hong kong, thailand, korea, japan, uruguay, united states, england, belgium and france — to continue on to the third phase. these finalists were then invited to spend three days at Hermès in paris and lyon, where they immersed themselves in the universe of the house, and following which they finalized their scarf design to scale. in march 2020, a jury chaired by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès, then selected six winners, with the designs going on to be printed as part of future Hermès silk collections.

now, Hermès shares two of the winning compositions — hello! mr farrier by kin fan lo, and masan & masan by terawat teankaprasith. see the two designs, and read the story behind their creation and imagination, below.

hello! mr farrier by kin fan lo | Hermès spring summer 2021 collection
© Hermès paris, 2021

‘hello! mr farrier’ by kin fan lo has been included in Hermès spring summer 2021 collection. mr farrier — or mr ‘maréchal-ferrant’ in french — is a robot formed around the shape of the horseshoe, a symbol of the Hermès heritage. the layering and sizing of the robot creates a festive and energetic scene within the square scarf. graphic designer kin fan lo, one of the six winners of LE GRAND PRIX DU CARRÉ HERMÈS competition, included tools related to a blacksmith’s work — such as nails, pliers, and a hammer — stylizing and arranging them in geometric and dynamic forms.

hello! mr farrier (detail) by kin fan lo | Hermès spring summer 2021 collection
© Hermès paris, 2021

‘masan & masan’ by terawat teankaprasith has been featured as part of Hermès autumn winter 2021 collection. in thailand, the water hyacinth is an aquatic plant that is collected and dried in the sun before being woven into all kinds of objects — like baskets, hats, sandals and toys in the shape of animals. the masan, literally ‘woven horse’ in thai, is one of them. graphic designer terawat teankaprasith, another one of the six winners of LE GRAND PRIX DU CARRÉ HERMÈS, drew inspiration from this ancestral knowledge and heritage to create a dazzling and stately face-to-face encounter.