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Octave Marsal's Achievement | Hermès Scarf


2021 Faubourg Tropical





The first Hermès store opened at 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris in 1880, in a building of modest dimensions that also housed saddlery workshops and private apartments. The current neoclassical façade is the result of audacious building work carried out between 1924 and 1926, extending upwards to create additional floors and a surprising roof terrace. It is from this terrace that the exuberant tropical forest designed by the duo of Octave Marsal and Théo de Gueltzl appears to unfurl. Cheetahs, monkeys and cockatoos blend into this botanical canopy, which also conceals the unexpected figure of the mounted cavalryman from the top of Faubourg Saint-Honoré, who has escaped to the jungle.



2020 Cavalcadour Voltigeur




Cavalcadour, a classic design by Henri d'Origny, has been reinvented in 3D by Octave Marsal and Oliver Dickson. The new technologies applied to this legendary composition change our perception of it significantly. In this acrobatic exercise, Cavalcadour is transformed. Each element of the original scarf becomes a levitating object in an interpretation that pays tribute to the precision and virtuosity of the design. The composition rises up weightlessly and soars into the future.



2019 La Cite Cavaliere




Inspired by a 17th-century engraving depicting a bird’s eye view of Paris, Octave Marsal reinvents the French capital’s streetscape. The original design was the work of Matthäus Merian the Elder, a Swiss-German copperplate engraver and publisher noted for his numerous editions of maps. With artistic license, Marsal maps the course of the Seine, the city walls and monuments of a dreamlike Paris, creating a Cité cavalière with the silhouette of a horse at its heart. The landmarks and the coat of arms of this imaginary city are clear to see, but a few secrets remain to be discovered… Can you spot the Faubourg store, the Colossus of Rhodes, a saddle, and a reference to the iconic Brides de gala?



2019 Des Chevaux Sous le Capot




2019 A l'Ombre des Pivoines




Giant peonies, fragile though powerful, rise from a proliferation of architectural forms in this poetic play on scale. Their extraordinary corollas bloom over an imaginary city. A city filled with details of beautiful palaces and vast residences, sanctuaries for luxuriant vegetation. Octave Marsal and Theo de Gueltzl bring their worlds, dreams and visions face-to-face in this collaborative design. The utopian universe created by these two artists is an invitation to a meditative journey; a magical scarf in the sense that regardless of which nuance captures the eyes gaze, it’s as if this scarf always seems to make perfect sense.


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