Fashion | South African Ardmore Ceramics partners with French brand Hermès

Ardmore Ceramic Art’s designs lend themselves well to fashion. The colorful works, populated with a menagerie of African plants and animals have a look all their own. That’s coupled with a very storied history for the studio. We suggest reading Ardmore’s company profile in its entirety; it’s like reading a fable. The studio was born on the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Nature, heat, action, and artistic vision work closely together in their works.

Ardmore recently partnered with French fashion brand Hermès on a series of silk scarves that look like a mandala of nature. Elephants, giraffes and crocodiles are framed by South African plants to an almost fractal effect. Visi, an SA art magazine reports:

Created in Ardmore’s signature style, the colourful designs celebrate our continent’s flora and fauna. For sister company Halsted, the launch of this collection illustrates Halsted’s vision of translating great African art and making it accessible to a global audience.

Hermès proudly recognises Ardmore as a group of “creative artists dedicated to reinventing traditional styles, united by their recognition of what our common humanity and fraternity truly mean – namely that we each exist thanks to others. This carré marks the beginning of a new collaboration between the collective, and the house of Hermès.”

You can purchase the scarves here. They retail for about $300.

For comparison we’ve added some of the studio’s other work to this post. The scarves are certainly filled to the brim with flora and fauna but that’s doubly true for the lovingly sculpted tureens and serving trays we came across. The designs are as rich and sumptuous as the ecosystem they take their inspiration from.

What do you think of these fashionable works of contemporary ceramic art? Let us know in the comments.