I have come to the end of these Scarf of the Moment posts for the time being, until I buy another Hermès scarf! This last one is about the utterly gorgeous Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage 90cm silk twill, designed by Laurence Bourthoumieux for Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2016 season.

This post was updated on 14/03/19.

Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage by Laurence Bourthoumieux for Hermès

Description

This scarf was originally issued as Mythiques Phoenix in 2011. I am not sure of the original issue season and the sizes so will add this information when I come across more details. As far as I am aware, the original design has been offered as a 90cm silk twill, a gavroche, a twilly, a cotton pareo, and a mousseline stole. I first saw the 90cm in 2014, when I first became interested in Hermès scarves.

The design shows a wonderful depiction of the Phoenix bird with all of its feathery plumage. It appears to be taking flight diagonally across the scarf. One corner of the scarf contains the bird’s tail and the other three show the fronds and fruit of date palms. There are also latticework walls to each side of the centre. In the Coloriage version, a centre square has been recoloured in the very palest pink with the Phoenix shown in red. My colourway #03 is rose pale, corail, bleu jean, and there are other colours such as black and a deep red. The main background is the lovely pale rose, with a wonderful contrast hem in denim blue.

Colourways

These are the colourways of 2016 Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage 90cm silk twill:

The original colourways of the 2011 gavroche:

The two iconic colourways of the 90cm silk twill from 2014:

These are the mousseline stole colourways:

And here we have the twilly colourways:

Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage was reissued as a 140cm cashmere/silk shawl for Hermès Autumn/Winter 2018 season. Here are the colourways:

The Spring/Summer 2019 season saw the addition of Mythiques Phoenix Tattoo 70cm scarves to the collection (there are further colourways, which I will add as soon as I find images of them):

Design story

The legendary phoenix, mount of the gods, is a gigantic, fabulous bird, thought to live for hundreds of years before consuming itself in flames, to be reborn in a nest of myrrh and incense. The ancient Greeks associated its name (phoinix) with the date palm, a symbol of fertility and longevity. The creature seems to emerge from the centre of the carré, surrounded by the date palm’s foliage and fruit. Transformed by its new colour treatment, the composition resembles a sophisticated colouring book. Like an allegory of re-birth, colour takes its place around the central bird of paradise. Already, the head is flooded with colour and new life. Gradually, black and white give way to an inrush of colour. The phoenix rises from the ashes.

Details

Here are some close-ups of my scarf in a slideshow format:

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How I wear the scarf

I love wearing this scarf with my coral cotton mix twin-set from Lands’ End. It would also look great with clothes in white, denim, navy and maybe a deep red (although I don’t wear that colour these days). I also have plenty of jewellery that goes with this scarf: bracelets in coral, blue or white enamel and leather, earrings in pink or white pearl.

Outfit of the day 05/06/18 with Hermès’ Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage scarf

Outfit of the day 31/08/17 with Hermès’ Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage

I will add more collages here as I continue to wear the scarf. There are a few older images that I took with the previous iPad.

Scarf ties

I think with this scarf I would always want to show the lovely contrast hem, so the best scarf ties would be the asymmetric wrap, a simple bias fold, a criss-cross knot or something more complicated like the waterfall. Instructions for a huge range of scarf knots can be found on MaiTai’s blog – link in the sidebar.

Mythiques Phoenix Coloriage – scarf ties

Background information

The Phoenix is well known in mythology from around the world. Here are a few links that you may find interesting:

Wikipedia
Phoenix (mythology)
A comprehensive article with media.

Slavorum
Phoenix – The Legendary Firebird and myths about it in Slavic Culture

Theoi Project
Phoinix
With quotations from classical literature.

The colourway #11 (a dark neutral combination of anthracite green/vanilla/aubergine) from 2014 was so popular that it has become a grail scarf for many collectors. I did not purchase it when it was available from the Hermès website because I did not think that it would suit me. Was that a mistake? The price for this scarf is now very high! Anyway, here are the thoughts of bloggers about this colourway and also the similar cotton pareo in dark navy:

Aesthetic Alterations
The Mythiques Phoenix Rises from the Barenia Fall-Out

MaiTai’s Picture Book
Mythiques Phoenix
A whole post about this colourway with a scarf profile video.

Nesting With Style
Mythiques Phoenix Hermès Scarf

Olfactoria’s Travels
Paris in a Day – Olfactoria Travels Again

(Edited on 22/06/18 to add CSGM colourways for Autumn/Winter 2018 season. Also added in another collage.)
(Edited on 14/03/19 to add in 70cm tattoo colourways for the Spring/Summer 2019 season).

I am going to use the time before I next write one of these Scarf of the Moment posts by going back through them all and updating them into this more organised format. Some will have new information and images added too. I am trying to make them as useful and interesting as possible for readers of the blog. Please don’t hesitate to send me corrections or additions.

Best wishes,

💜💛💚💙❤