A few years ago, I had the pleasure to meet Leïla Menchari (window design director for HERMES or as she calls herself a VITRINESS ) I know she doesn’t remember me, but for me it was one of those days that changed all my life.
I come from the fashion marketing world and after some years as a marketing director in a retail company, I decided to invest in myself and pay for some extra classes. It was a normal monday and the “teacher” was a french lady from HERMES, that is what they told me. I was expecting an elegant 40 year old woman dressed as French as I could imagine,maybe with a burette. But when Leïla walked in the class I discovered real Frenc chic. She was dressed in black, she was wearing about 12 silver rings, her black hair pulled in a perfect ponytail. Her nationality, as she said “who cares where I was born, I am from the world…” Her age is also a mystery to me. Her face told me about 60, her eyes barely 20 but her hands nothing less than a thousand. When she talked I could hear the sparks of a teenager discovering the world. She is not arrogant or flamboyant. She is one of the few persons that are 100% true.
Ever since I met her, every-time I go to Paris I visit HERMES at 24 Faubourg Saint Honoré, and I dream seeing her for just a second and maybe be brave enough to say “bonjour” Thanks to new technologies we all can see her work in the net, here is an incredible link with her work.
http://trendland.net/leila-menchari-behind-hermes-windows/leila-menchari/