The process of making Hermès scarves

Throughout its long history, the Hermès scarf has attracted many rich and famous people: Queen Elizabeth II, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Sharon Stone, Sarah Jessica Parker, Hillary Clinton, Mariah Carey, Elle McPherson and Madonna. 

One scarf is being sold every 20 seconds.

Grace Kelly

Queen Elizabeth II

I was just wondering what makes Hermès scarves that exquisite and expensive... and of course it lies all in the THE CRAFTMANSHIP.

The process of making silk scarves is relatively complex and time-consuming, it will take people about 18 months to use the silk scarf’s topic, design, match colors, make out the plate, color printing as well as curling by hand and other process. An ordinary silk scarf is woven by the silk spit from the five to six silkworms, while a Hermes silk scarf is made out by eight silkworms’ silk, in doing so, the silk scarf’s draping sense would be stronger, and its effect would be more three-dimensional after it is folded.

Firstly, it would be the color matching. Use a variety of pigments to make out the dyestuff used in the printing. Then mix the pigments together in accordance with the formula proportion, and then cooking and heating them. Each mixed dyestuff is gone through so many checks by the professional technical personnel so as to ensure the made-out silk scarf’s color is the same as that on the sample. 

Secondly, it would be plate making. Once the scarf patterns are finalized, the technical personnel should carefully make the plate of each color on the silk scarf pattern, and paint out the every detail of the pattern on the transparent paper, to ensure that all the colors can overprint accurately, so that it can make out the predetermined pattern. In addition to time consuming, this process also requires the relative personnel’s high degree of patience and sensitive sense for colors. According to statistics, the plate making for one scarf can be up to about 600 hours.

Third, it should be the turn of color printing. After finishing each color’s plate making, the dyeing craftsmen thus begin to print color. The colored silk scarves thus have become the rare art works. After the silk scarf is printed, they would use the steam bath to do the color setting, and then remove glue which plays the fixation role on the color. Watch the video: 

The final step is the curling. After printing, each scarf is cut into the proper size, and then it is washed, dried and other solid-color process, the skilled artisan begins to do the artificial curling for scarf. After that, the process of silk scarf is perfectly done.

Every year, Hermès releases two silk scarf collections featuring a dozen designs in each. While some of the designs are new ones, there are also several older prints that are produced with a new array of colors. In addition, limited edition prints are released periodically. Some of the designs that have been featured over the years include equestrian drawings, banners, coats of arms, French cuisine and flora and fauna, among many others. The company also releases two collections annually of scarves made from a silk and cashmere blend.

Sources: 1 - 2

Zara versus H&M

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Following my previous blog post about Inditex performing a boost in net profit, I thought it would be worthwhile to compare the fashion giant with H&M by doing a small interesting analysis of both.

Speed to Market

The secret of Zara's success is its speed: Zara can originate a new design, produce and hit it to shops in 4  to 5 weeks. The same process can take up to 6 months for H&M.

Distribution & Manufacturing Model

34% of Inditex's manufacturing is outsourced to Asia, and 14% to parts of Europe including Turkey, those tend to be more basic items. The high-fashion stuff, 49% of what it sells, is cut and finished in Spain. Zara is controlled from Spain, the sole logistics hub. 


H&M has distribution centres dotted around Europe. Some 65% of its products is made in lower-cost countries in Asia. That means its cost base is lower than Inditex’s.


Some experts caution that Zara faces the challenge that keeping a large amount of production close to home, loses its benefits when a growing number of stores are far away. The efficiency of the supply chain is coming under more pressure the farther abroad they go.


Pablo Isla, Chief executive of Inditex, said that logistics center in Asia, where the comany produces around a third of its goods, would only make sense if Zara have many stores in the region. I guess that now Inditex is growing in Asia, especially in China, where it will open 80 more stores this year, it could be considered.

Market prices

A big question which is pointed out in The Economist is that how long Zara can go on charging such markedly varying prices in different countries. The company makes up for some of the cost by charging more for goods sold overseas. In the U.S., for instance, Zara clothes cost up to 40% more than they do in Spain. Japanese customers pay about half as much again as west Europeans. Zara also charges more in China, but according to researchers (from Sanford Bernstein research firm) consumers in China see high prices as part of a product’s appeal. However, the varying prices could lead to an inconsistent brand image, a risky strategy in a globalizing world, some critics warn.


H&M, which is further ahead in this, seems to be maintaining its big regional markups. Especially in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria H&M has caught on, thanks to its higher market penetration.


Sources: The Economist, The Wall Street Journal

Liz Hurley opens boutique in Maasmechelen Village outlet centre

Liz Hurley opens her pop-up boutique in Maasmechelen Village, on april 18

TWEEN launches tomorrow its new Women Collection

So exciting and fresh news: TWEEN launches a new glamorous and party Women Collection designed by

Gamze Saracoglu
Erkan Coruh
Elif Cigizoglu
Selim Baklaci

Can't wait to see the collection!

Gisele Bündchen launches her Ipanema sandals in Turkey !

 One of the best decisions of Ipanema Gisele Bundchen sandals.

No long time ago I posted how impressed I have been by Ipanema Gisele Bündchen sandals. The moment I noticed those sandals in Brasil, it was not hard to figure out that these sandals could be a huge success in other countries. Gisele Bündchen acts quick and smart to increase her brand's global sales. She already launched yesterday (April 6, 2011) her lines of sandals in Turkey! If you ask me, the choice is strategically well-decided, considering the highly potential market in Turkey thanks to country-specific factors such as:

- Warm to hot summer temperatures 

- Coastal areas; Black Sea, Meditteranean Sea, Aegean Sea

- Rapidly growing country and especially in the retail sector

- Local consumers are open to international brands

- Soaring design awareness

On her site it is announced that the launch attracted a lot of celebrities and reporters who wanted to meet her. 

Gisele Bündchen introduces her sandals to Istanbul

Her sandals were presented in a colorful show at Suada

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Design and marketing go together.. Karl Lagerfeld's Diet Coke

Karl Lagerfeld is hitting the bottle - again.

Lagerfeld, who famously credited his 40 kg (90lb) weight loss to a diet of steamed vegetables and Diet Coke in 2001, has teamed up with the beverage giant for a second time to put his signature flair on a trio of limited-edition bottles.

Dressed in black and white with fuchsia touches, the bottles also feature Lagerfeld's trademark, pony-tailed, white-collared silhouette. Motifs of silver polka dots, black diamonds and bold fuchsia swirls drape the bottles and are topped off with hot pink caps. The collector's edition hits stores in 11 European countries in April, priced from 47 euros.

Lagerfeld will also shoot a publicity campaign for the brand.

Last year, Lagerfeld used a similar color palette to launch his first Diet Coke bottle, featuring his silhouette and a fuchsia cap. He used model Coco Rocha for the campaign.

The beverage industry often turns to fashion designers for packaging makeovers. Japanese designer Issey Miyake recently redesigned Evian's water bottle, which has also been dressed by Christian Lacroix.

Source: the Independent

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Green fashion

The occasion was a charity auction at Christie’s on Tuesday night with the ambitious title of “Bid to Save the Earth,” during which guests could bid on packages like a trip for two to the Chanel couture show, which sold for $65,000. There was also a runway show of 32 looks by designers who have agreed to at least look into sustainable manufacturing processes, organized by a nonprofit group called Runway to Green and styled by the editors of Vogue. (Some of the looks are being sold online this week through Net-a-Porter.)

Green fashion was all the rage about four years ago, when virtually every designer of premium jeans or discount underwear was touting the organic attributes of their products. But the trend died down in response to the global recession and consumer skepticism about just how environmentally friendly fashion could be. As the Runway to Green show demonstrated, the good intentions are still there, but designers aren’t going so overboard with their embrace of fabrics made of pineapple husks.

Source: New York Times