[Title] Zipper
[Artist] Groovisions
[Date] October 23 – December 6, 2001
We have changed our image from the opening. In this window display, the Japanese design groupGroovisions expressed one of the “skills” of Hermès, which is the know-how of connecting various elements together. This was represented through the symbol of the “zipper.” Hermès has historically been the first company to apply the zipper, which had hitherto been used only industrially, in relation to everyday instruments and clothing.
In applying the industrial zipper to clothing. , the artists imagined, Hermès must have prided not only in the attention to functionality, but also in the innovative spirit that allowed them to make use of the newest technology at the time. Here is the “skill” of fusing traditional material with new technology. It is indeed a rare characteristic of Hermès to magically turn “skill” into beauty.
The window display, which was created in cooperation with Hermès’ leather craftsmen, hides this craftsmanship behind the symbolic item of the zipper. There is, for example, the torso that hangs the prêt-a-porter. The finishing touch of pasting leather without a wrinkle onto the curved line of the part that hangs derives from experienced craftsmanship. You can also witness beautiful “skills” in the cubic art objects, or in the zipper-lined leather curtains in the small windows.
The world map covering the background of the front window evokes the lives and cultures of diverse groups of people, presenting juxtapositions such as tradition and innovation, nature and artifice, or east and west. The huge zipper exists as a medium that unites these opposing elements. The overall tone is set in Hermès orange. Pop, yet elegant, finished with a graphical touch, this window is truly characteristic of Groovisions.
Groovisions
Groovisions is a design group founded in Kyoto in 1993. They relocated to Tokyo in 1997. Known for their hit character “Chappie,” they have been active in various fields, surpassing the realm of design. Some of their activities include art direction for the Eames Design Exhibition (Tokyo), and participation in the Super Flat Exhibition (LA).