Chaqueta de seda narrativa Christophe Colomb de Hermès con ribete de cuero, principios de los años 1990, fabricada en Francia

Hermès has long commissioned illustrators to compose dense, multi-scene histories on silk. Here the Christophe Colomb design, the voyage to the Americas told in vessels, instruments and allegory, runs across a structured jacket with its scenes continuous over seams and panels: a historical document translated into fabric, then into form.

The Piece

The Christophe Colomb – Découverte de l'Amérique design comes from Hermès' tradition of commissioning illustrators to produce dense, multi-scene historical tapestries on silk, designs that were didactic, encyclopedic and symbolic rather than merely decorative. Dated to the early 1990s, a period when the house briefly allowed narrative, illustration and historical storytelling to lead form, the jacket engineers that scarf-grade illustration into a wearable object, preserving scene continuity across seams, panels and structural breaks without degrading the artwork.

The print is a cartographic and allegorical rendering of the Columbian voyage: maritime vessels, navigational instruments, symbolic figures of exploration, architectural and cultural markers, and the overlap of myth and history typical of Hermès' interpretive approach. Rather than glorifying conquest, the imagery reflects the European epistemology of discovery, how the Old World imagined, narrated and mythologized the New. It captures how history was told rather than how it unfolded, which makes the garment a layered cultural artifact, narrative without slogans.

Hermès silk printing of the era came closer to fine-art printmaking than to fashion manufacturing. The scarf-grade silk holds ultra-fine line fidelity, with no bleeding or loss of micro-detail across folds and colorfast layering through warm and neutral tones. A cotton lining stabilizes the silk and preserves its drape, and the leather trim reinforces the structure rather than decorating it. This is a structured silk jacket rather than a scarf conversion, and it still retains its textile tension.

Very few Hermès narrative silk jackets of this period survive in wearable condition: silk garments were treated as fragile rather than archival, many were altered or deconstructed, others were simply worn out, and the designs were season-specific and never reproduced identically. The house did not present them as collectibles at the time, so examples with intact print continuity, minimal fading and original construction now pass quietly into private collections and museums. The jacket speaks to Hermès archive collectors, silk scarf connoisseurs, textile collectors and historians of conceptual fashion.

Details

• Maker: Hermès, Paris
• Model: Archive silk jacket
• Line: Print: Christophe Colomb – Découverte de l'Amérique (Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas)
• Era: Early 1990s
• Origin: France
• Material: Outer: 100% silk (scarf-grade illustration textile); lining: 100% cotton; genuine leather trim
• Construction: Structured silk jacket (not a scarf conversion)
• Attribution: Associated with the Martin Margiela–adjacent experimental design phase at Hermès (see dating notes)

Condition

Graded 8/10: very strong for its age, with archive-appropriate patina only.

Dating Notes

The jacket is dated to the early 1990s, a transitional archive period before the Gaultier-era menswear language at Hermès, and is associated with a Margiela-adjacent phase of narrative-driven silk recomposition and conceptual print translation. Martin Margiela's own tenure as Hermès womenswear designer began in 1997, so the attribution is best read as period context rather than a documented designer credit.

Authenticity & Care

Made in France in scarf-grade printed silk with a 100% cotton lining and genuine leather trim; the Margiela-adjacent design attribution is offered as period context rather than a documented designer credit. Every piece is examined and documented in Japan before dispatch and is offered with the Japonista authenticity guarantee.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Returns follow our published policy.

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