The Story of ORANGE

"Hermès was the first. When orange was chosen to adorn packages, boxes, bags, paper and items for the home, no one else was using it. It was a daring move. The symbol of serenity and joie de vivre in the Far East, orange was not at all representative of 1940s France. It is the colour of fruits bursting with vitamins, the colour of all the promises of dawn and the slpendours of fire, the colour of warmth. On the flag of Bhutan, theat small yet grandiose country that established happiness as a supreme value, orange connects two worlds: the spiritual and the material. It is the colour of balance, justice, wisdom.

Hermès was a pioneer. Long before the days of flower power and the craze for psychedelic tone, before fashion altogether, when it was all about showing one's unique and precious character and being in line with certain traditions (the Muses' dresses in Greek mythology were orange), one shade alone was right for the job: orange.

Surprisingly enough, but not without reason, orange did not exist in the West for a long time. It didn't even have a name. It was a product of blends ordained by the Inquisition. Yellow + Red = Hell. It bore the mark of infamy. In the collective unconscious, it is a sub-colour, like purple and brown. Seen as vulgar, flashy and inferior, it is usually the last in line when it comes to favourite colours in France. Orange disturbs conventional people because it wraps them in a warm embrace. It shocks conformists because it denotes a spark. it puzzles people set in their ways becuase it is new. Hermès orange...the carriage that turned into a pumpkin."

copied from Hermès.com