Last Friday, Hermès opened the doors to its one-week-only dip-dye scarf pop-up shop—and it’s actually way cooler than I imagined. The Hermès pop-up, which is open now through August 5th in CityCenterDC, across the fountain from the regular Hermès shop, is reminiscent of an ultra-clean retro (hello, Hermès orange everywhere) laundromat. In addition to the giant orange washing/dying/drying machines (which of course actually exist for the dip-dye process), the orange laundromat chairs, and the ceiling-high stacked orange Hermès boxes, the space is adorned wall-to-wall with Hermès scarves in saturated, yet unexpected colors. Think: rich hues of deep pink, greens, and blues—they call them “denim blue, fuchsia pink, and jungle green,” to be exact. It’s a far cry from traditional Hermès’ more classic color combinations.
Here’s how it works: If you already have an Hermès scarf—maybe you inherited or were gifted one that you’ve been saving but feel just isn’t quite your color—you can take it in to be dip-dyed for free. The color experts on site guide you, and explain what each of the dyes would do to transform (they call it “colorful metamorphosis”) the scarf to a jewel-toned little treasure. The dye selection process just takes a few minutes, and then the scarves are left in-store for 24-48 hours to be washed, dyed, dried, and made ready for pick-up. If you don’t have an Hermès scarf, don’t fret. They have a small selection of vintage 90 cm scarves from retired collections available for the Hermès-scarf-standard, $395. Choose one and then walk over to the other side of the space and work with a color expert to determine the best dip dye: pink, green, or blue. No such time to spare? They also have a collection of vintage scarves they’ve pulled from their vault and dip-dyed in advance (also $395). Anyway you do it, you end up with a one-of-a-kind accessory.
It’s not to say I don’t love a traditional Hermès scarf, but the pop-up is breathing new life into old scarves, and enticing a new set of clients who are more interested in personalized pieces, and these bolder colors. They’re great year round, but I’m especially loving these for fall. When you pick up your scarf, you can pop into the photobooth to create a cute, quick, four-frame .mp4 moving photo.
The traveling pop-up series started in New York, then hopped down here to DC, and will head to Nashville (then LA, and beyond) next. It’s definitely worth taking a peek before they pack up and skip town, even if just for the Insta.
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
