{"id":8725,"date":"2020-10-07T12:12:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T10:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesplacesdor.com\/pierre-herme-lelevation-des-sens-quand-le-gout-rencontre-lesthetique\/"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:25:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T14:25:28","slug":"pierre-herme-exalting-senses-when-taste-embraces-aesthetic-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesplacesdorpackaging.com\/en\/blog\/2020\/10\/07\/pierre-herme-exalting-senses-when-taste-embraces-aesthetic-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Pierre HERME: Exalting senses\u2026 when Taste embraces aesthetic style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ispahan, Carr\u00e9ment Chocolat, Tarte Infiniment Vanille, Venus, macarons\u2026 musts which have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

conquered the whole planet. Above and beyond his immense pastry-making talent, Pierre Herm\u00e9 is also an entrepreneur, aesthete, epicurean, a trailblazer down to the very packaging of his products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A discreet yet internationally-renowned man; genius pastry chef, nose just for pure olfactory pleasure; lover of contemporary art and Immortelle from Corsica: he\u2019s ever-so one-of-a-kind! Whilst hosts of businessmen have lent their names to eponymous brands without really having a hand on the wings of their empire, Pierre Herm\u00e9 remains forever Pierre Herm\u00e9 and is involved in the creation of each of his products. Year-in, year-out, his packaging is inventive and precious, so, to how much is he involved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re a creative and work like a stylist, illustrating your ideas and taste combinations through drawings. Do you do the same for your packaging?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, several scenarios exist but, as a general rule, I\u2019ve already an idea in mind, for packaging style. The shape will be defined, of course, based on the product. After the initial briefing session, I keep an eye on all the development steps through to final project validation always consistent with the product. As for my sketches, they\u2019re a means for exchanging with the pastry chefs who work with me in the creation workshop for highlighting the proportions between elements, and what I call taste architecture. These drawings are functional and although I occasionally add touches of colour, I don\u2019t have enough time to indulge in really artistic sketches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you involved in looking for suppliers?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve a specialized person in-house who\u2019s responsible for this essential phase of the creation project and they\u2019re invaluable to us for helping us shape some of our original ideas, which can be overly-original, to materialize them technically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re an aesthete and you often work hand-in-hand with designers and artists to create your<\/strong> packaging, so how does this come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m curious be nature and am interested in many subjects, graphic design in particular as well as art in general which forges one\u2019s personal culture. Taking an interest in things develops the capacity to reason and opens the mind. We\u2019ve always initiated collaborations with different artists at Maison Pierre Herm\u00e9 Paris, be it for packaging or for other forms of expression. They\u2019ve always been the result of an encounter, a wish to work together. Style is something that\u2019s precious to me. Whether it\u2019s with Kenya Hara with whom we created a special edition with his famous box for the Ispahan cake, Yan D. Pennor\u2019s for the design and packaging of one of my creations \u201cThe Cherry on the Cake\u201d, Nicolas Buffe for different packaging and products.\u00a0 Drawing our profession together with other artistic disciplines leads to mutual enrichment which does not reflect any preset pattern. Last year, for the end-of-year celebrations, we worked with the artist and designer Marjorie Colas who invited us on a journey into her world of dreamlike paper creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which other artists have you partnered with on packaging projects?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernar Venet is one of my greatest encounters. During one of his wife\u2019s exhibitions featuring artists\u2019 jewellery, I was inspired by the reproduction of his monumental sculptures in infinitely small jewels. The idea for a \u201cf\u00e8ve\u201d, a charm began to germinate. After I\u2019d presented the idea a first time, the man who would become a friend and with whom exchanges continue to this day, accepted, provided that he could also be involved in the visual aspect of the galette des rois (Epiphany cake). And, more recently, we called on Philippe Baudelocque who has a work of art permanently-exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo. We discussed with him and Philippe came back to us with a host of ideas which we were able to use and which will be reproduced on the products themselves. For a partnership to make sense, it\u2019s vital to stay loyal to the artist\u2019s spirit through every step of the creative process and that\u2019s why we always ask them for their opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which artist would you like to work with?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, there are loads! Cyril Kongo for example, a street artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaster textures, shake senses (and sensations) up, provoke contrasts\u201d, does this<\/strong> also apply to packaging?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we\u2019re in a period of reflection, in phase with the way of the world, to discover how we can replace plastic totally. As such, we need to focus more on content rather than on style even if we don\u2019t see the product as well in its packaging. The packaging needs to be aesthetic, ethical and ecological. We need to speed things up and, it\u2019s up to us, ordering parties, to shake things up. By discussing with suppliers and our counterparts, we\u2019re well on our way to making it reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re curious, and you like collaborations: La Maison du Whisky, the Jardin de Palerme and Bergamote Ispahan bouquets, Caf\u00e9 Dior, Les Deux Magots, La Maison du Chocolat \u2026and L\u2019Occitane. Could you tell us more about this last collaboration?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level, I\u2019d already worked on the perfume, a realm I appreciate a lot. Whenever Reinold Geiger invited me to create a collection of 86 Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es perfumes. I was really enthusiastic straight away especially as I\u2019d carte blanche. So, I created a collection of 11 original perfumes.\u00a0 For the packaging for these perfumes, I wanted something understated and simple without frills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which realm interests you which you haven\u2019t yet explored?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsible indulgence and vegan pastry, two subjects of the future. The first focuses on thinking about dietary intake to reduce the number of calories in pastry. Four pastries have already been created from this study conducted with the pastry chef Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bau. The second includes collaboration with La Maison du Chocolat and keeping an eye on all the initiatives in line with this goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some news for the end of the year?<\/strong> We plan to launch our press campaign in September for our end-of-year products at the Palais de Tokyo to showcase our collaboration with Philippe Baudelocque. You\u2019ll also discover the latest L\u2019Occitane & Pierre Herm\u00e9 86 perfume \u201cC\u00e9dre et C\u00e9drat\u201d (Cedar and Citron), a subtle harmony of two fragrances which interweave, one woody, the other with citrus overtones. The release of a new book on the latest Macaron creations published by \u00c9ditions de La Martini\u00e8re.<\/p>\n\n\n