Jacques Henri Latrique's Bibi

The exhibition documents Jacques Henri Latrique's relationship with his first wife and mother of his only child, Madeleine Messenger, known as 'Bibi'. The black and white photographs are a timeline of their life together from the early days of their relationship taking trips together as a loving couple and socialites to the hostility and problems in their relationship that eventually led to their split.

The exhibition runs at The Photographers Gallery until January 5th!

Hermes at the Saatchi!

Today I headed over to the Saatchi Gallery for the first day of the 'festival des métiers' , the exhibition dedicated to the craftsmanship of Hermes products.

The exhibition features work stalls with craftspeople from the French workshop going about their daily handy work right in front of you!  The exhibition room has shelves and units with strips of leather,fabric and tools on,which makes you feel as if you've stepped right into the Hermes workshop! The exhibits around the room include a leather worker,watch maker,porcelain painter and an engraver.I found it so intriguing to be able to watch them working by hand, and see how much effort,time and patience goes into making the products. Each stall also has somebody translating the process step by step, which I found really engaging, some stalls even invited the audience to interact, by touching the fabrics and holding items. There was a woman placing individual diamonds into a bracelet, who stepped back and let us look down the microscope at the bracelet being made, which was really exciting!

I particularly liked the stall which showed one craftsman handcrafting a leather Hermes bag, I caught him using a hot tool to weld the leather handle together. The translator explained that he had been working for Hermes for 23 years and that it takes him 25 hours to create a bag from start to finish (it used to take him 50 hours). I also found it really interesting that one individual would create a product from start to finish, it shows how much care and time goes into creating it. I also was amazed by the woman who was pulling tiny threads from a silk scarf to add texture to the piece, so much time going into one piece, it's great to see especially when so many garments these days are made so carelessly in sweatshops and factories and by machines purely for the profit. I enjoyed the exhibition as you witnessed how much love and care goes into Hermes.

The exhibition was really eye opening, as I didn't realise that products would be hand made with so much time,patience and precision put into them. I think it definitely adds to the brand and I think it would make your purchase feel so much more personal,knowing how much skill is put into it. You really are paying for quality when you buy into Hermes. 

I previously visited the gallery to see Karl Lagerfeld's Little Black Jacket exhibition, people may ask can fashion can be compared to art? I think it definitely can and you only have to witness the craftsmanship,quality and passion that goes into the brand whilst walking around to understand it really is a form of art!!

The insightful exhibition is free and only open from 21-27 May, so it's definitely worth getting down there ASAP!

Leather worker creating a handbags handle.

Individual strands being pulled through.

The amazing floor

Pieces of leather for the bags

Individual diamonds being placed in bracelet

Beautiful  Hermes dresses