Watch the video
From drawing to objet:
The secrets of creation at Hermès
Director of Hermès Studio Dessins
Every year, creators from all over the world produce some 200 drawings for Hermès. These drawings are passed on to Hermès Studio Dessins, where over time they are given new life as objets. Cosima Balsan has been the director of Studio Dessins since 2019. Here, she explains how the studio transforms a drawing into an Hermès objet.
-- What is Studio Dessins?
Studio Dessins is a Paris-based studio dedicated to graphic creation. We receive drawings from creators around the world and, through dialogue with these artists, develop them into designs that we can use in Hermès’s objets. Our team includes graphic designers, art directors, and other specialists who endlessly reinterpret each drawing to create the various objets produced by the maison. We also manage an archive of some 8,000 designs collected since 1937. We preserve and restore this legacy so that our team members will be able to see the designs again and again to find new inspiration.
-- A magical tool
This year's annual theme is “Drawn to Craft”, a celebration of drawing in all its forms. The annual themes began in 1987, when Jean-Louis Dumas, the company’s fifth president, had the idea to invite the people of Paris to join us in celebrating 150 years of Hermès, under the theme of “Fireworks”. For the occasion, Hermès created 150 new objets based on the same theme. Since then, we have continued to spark our artisans’ creativity by coming up with and proposing a new theme every year. We at Hermès do not like to repeat ourselves, so the annual theme has become a magical tool for reinvention.
-- How an objet is made
The carré scarf is always very precise in its composition. The square carré has four corners, each of which must be different because a different corner may be visible depending on how you tie it around your neck. And each corner has to tell a different story. It takes at least two years for a carré to arrive in stores following our first meeting with the creator. We don't like to tell creators what to do; we are open-minded and value creative freedom. We want our creators to be able to work with us over a long period of time, exchanging ideas and opinions in collaborations that last 15, 20, or 25 years—and in some cases, as long as 60 years.
-- The thrill of secret knowledge
These carré designs are reinterpreted in many different objets. We can apply them to anything— from an enamel bracelet to a surfboard to a bag. This is always done in dialogue with our artisans, who reinterpret and reconstruct each design to give it shape as an objet. Perhaps, that’s what we love about Hermès. We are aware of who created the design we are wearing and know the story that it conveys—and that gives us an intimate, almost egocentric satisfaction.
-- Turning emotions into objects
The story behind the Bouquet Final carré is rather interesting. Katie Scott, one of our British illustrators, held a talk with her friend, Japanese floral artist Azuma Makoto. When Azuma turned Ginza Maison Hermès into a Parisian flower shop in 2024, he prepared a number of small bouquets. In response, Katie drew a large bouquet that echoed Azuma’s work. The moment we saw her design—which eventually became Bouquet Final—we knew it was incredible.
-- Chemistry with Japanese culture
When I arrived at Hermès, one of my first projects was preparing a small collection for the fifth anniversary of Ginza Maison Hermès. There is something very special between Japan and drawing. I also feel there is a chemistry between French and Japanese culture. You see it in the handicrafts and craftsmanship of each culture, whether it's cooking, gardening, woodwork, or craft. A passion for craftsmanship and work done by hand: this is what connects us with Japan.
For nearly 20 years, Balsan has worked in creative direction at Hermès. In 2019, she began leading Studio Dessins—a place of creation, exchange, and transmission, where every drawing comes to life.
