The hunt for the most valuable Hermès scarf

Hermès was founded in Paris in 1837, producing harnesses and saddles for noblemen. It was another century before its first scarf, Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches, arrived. The 90cm x 90cm square recreated the dimensions of a famous board game played in the 1830s and was made in the silk traditionally used for jockeys’ caps. Since then, more than 300 illustrators and artists have created signed designs, with several thousand styles now in circulation. Hermès releases around 40 each year. From equestrian signatures to more contemporary designs, “there’s a motif for everyone”, says Abigail Goodman, who runs a vintage Hermès scarf consignment in New York. The scarves have always had a strong following among collectors, but “interest has certainly increased over the past five years”, says Jess Mackenzie from auction house Elmwood’s. 

While a new scarf currently retails from £395, second-hand ones can be much more accessible. “A non-rare, good second-hand Hermès scarf should cost between £150 and £200,” says dealer and founder of the Nearly New Cashmere Co, Ali Orr, noting that an original Hermès orange box can increase the price by up to 25 per cent. 

Nuées Imaginaires Mousseline, sold for $4,450 at Abigail Goodman

Étendards et Bannières, sold for £275 at Nearly New Cashmere Co

Wedgwood, sold for $1,250 at Abigail Goodman

L’Heure des Gants AW25 by Jonathan Burton, £520. BUY

The more desirable “grails” can fetch much higher prices. Orr cites those designed by Texan artist Kermit Oliver in the 1950s, which translated figurative scenes of cowboys onto silk, as being among the most elusive. She has just sold a scarf with Oliver’s Wild West design Kachinas (£375) and another with his Faune et Flore du Texas (£450), which depicts a roosting turkey. 

Other “grail” names include Frenchmen Hugo Grygkar (the brand’s first in-house scarf designer) and Xavier de Poret, an early Hermès designer whose carrés tend to feature animals. Orr’s own favourite is Annie Faivre, who uses typical Hermès motifs such as horses and foliage to conceal unlikely details. “She hides a little monkey in them,” says Orr. “Her father called her a little monkey when she was a child, so it’s a nice anecdote.” The Nearly New Cashmere Co recently sold Faivre’s Chapeau! (£295), featuring illustrations of various elaborate hats, and Étendards et Bannières (£275), decorated with flags and banners. 

Brides de Gala en Fleurs SS25 by Christine Henry, £520. BUY

Brides de Gala Forever by Hugo Grygkar, a re-edition of a 1957 design, £520. BUY

Didier Ludot, who ran his eponymous vintage couture house at the Palais Royal in Paris until 2024, got into collecting upon inheriting his grandmother’s and mother’s scarves. “I’d pick them up in flea markets for €30 or €50 and at auction,” he notes. He is particularly fond of designs by Anne-Marie Cassandre, from the 1970s, known for their plays on perspective and motifs including playing cards and the alphabet. He amassed nearly 1,000 scarves and sold 700 at what is now Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in 2021. “There are lots of Hermès carrés created for private events and as presents, which are hard to find because they are made in such small quantities,” says Ludot. He is not precious about his pieces; the only scarves he has now have been used to upholster a pair of “Napoleonic poufs”. 

Cave Felem, 1998, by Christine Henry

Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches, 1937, by Robert Dumas

Fruits de Mer, c1940, which sold at Bonhams as part of Geneviève Fontan collection for €57,600, in the Didier Ludot sale in 2023

Faune et Flore du Texas by Kermit Olivier, £520. BUY

Most collectors are unanimous that personal taste should be your bellwether. “The first scarf that you buy has to be the one that you really love,” says Florida-based collector Patricia Pingree-Clouet. She claims her former brother-in-law Hubert de Castejà was the first to frame and hang an Hermès scarf, at his hotel Pousada Hibiscus in Búzios, Brazil, in the 1960s. “He had one framed for each room in the colours of the room,” she recalls.

“When I look for them, it’s the same feeling I have when I’m looking for art for my home,” says Eva Wirth, a 26-year-old collector in New York. “Do I feel something? Do I have a personal connection to it?”

Fakes are an unsurprising reality on the secondary market. “It’s the Wild West out there,” says Orr, who points to patterns such as the famous Brides de Gala and Philippe Ledoux’s Springs that are common in knock-offs. She recommends buying from a reputable channel with an authentication system, but notes there are some easy signs to look out for: Hermès scarves always have hand-rolled hems that fold towards the front, a copyright mark and a care label sewn into the corner. Any kind of machine finish, printing error or spelling mistake flags a potential dupe.

One specific object will serve collectors well. Carrés d’Art by Geneviève Fontan, which retails for about £300, is a three-part encyclopedia detailing almost every Hermès scarf that has been made. “It’s a bible,” says Ludot.