If you're a mathematician, you're going to enjoy this: the female produces 300 eggs, which hatch as many silkworms. So let's go back to the love match between two Brazilian moths. You won't see the Brazilian silk babes, but their life story is illuminating. The 10-day event features a small army of craftspeople from the brand's various disciplines, including bags, saddles, ties, jewellery, watches and gloves. That story will come to life at Melbourne Town Hall on March 8, when Hermès artisans fresh from their ateliers in France demonstrate their skills in scarf-making during Hermès at Work.

It's a journey of two years, from the moment a cocoon of silk is unravelled in Brazil to its final incarnation, at Hermès' finishing school in Lyon, into that fluttering kaleidoscope of colour, one of the world's most desirable luxury accessories. China may be the world's biggest silk producer, but Brazil offers the finest.Ĭlassic Hermès designs: ex Libris, Jeux des Ombres, Studio des Fleurs and Les Cles. Indeed, Brazil shattered China's silk ceiling long ago, when Japanese immigrant workers to the state of Paraná first planted mulberry trees in the early 20th century. It's been that way for 30 years, ever since the French luxury goods maker rejected Chinese silk for its inability to achieve Grade A6 – that's top drawer if you're a Bombyx silkworm intent on your work being woven into a 90-square-centimetre Hermès scarf.Ĭontented silk worms need humidity and luscious white mulberry trees of a sort that cannot flourish in France.

Hermes silk scarf