Le Grand Prix du Carré Hermès
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In 2019, legendary fashion company Hermès hosted its first international scarf design competition. Le Grand Prix du Carré Hermès was free and open to all types of artistic talents. The winning design would be purchased and reproduced for a future Hermès collection. The contest ran through a series of phases between March 8, 2019 - March 1, 2020 and upwards of 11,000 creative talents submitted their designs for consideration.
Pamela Diaz Martinez and former high school student Leigh Sarembock collaborated to enter several designs into Le Grand Prix du Carré Hermès. Martinez and Sarembock individually chose photos/pieces from their own portfolios before coming together to select images that complimented each other. Using computer graphics, the photos were then juxtaposed to create a fluid design.
Included below is the statement that Martinez and Sarembock wrote for Hermès:
Martinez’s innumerable ticks of pastel powder sit atop the page waiting for a passerby to whisk them into a fresh arrangement. Initially, erasing creates a negative, which reads like a positive. For those that wait, eventually the “drawing” will reverse what the eye perceives ultimately creating a form of wind caught in a moment. Present are palettes of eminent green, infallible yellows and pinks most commonly observed as astutely commanding. Martinez’s gentle imposition surrounds the interior space merging into Sarembock’s compositions of lush domestic textures filled with docile publications. Sarembock forms hauntingly empty space devoid of humanity while simultaneously inviting the imperial, connoisseur of design. With ease and elegance Sarembock will rotate to construct a poetic feeling of place for the humble academic looking to slink into a comfortable position for the night. Together, Martinez and Sarembock’s conceptual designs hypothesize a future that is neither here nor recognizable, yet embryonic and familiar.
Leigh Sarembock, a South African-American interior designer and Pamela Diaz Martinez, a Mexican-American studio artist and instructor first collaborated in 2007. The former high school teacher and student duo met in Irvine, California to forge an interminable friendship and design team. Sarembock remarks about working with her then high school teacher, Ms. Martinez, “I wanted to soak up all information, techniques as much as possible but also felt extremely comfortable to chat and express opinions as though you were my counterpart. It became this comfort level-we were able to form a bond that surpassed a teacher student hierarchy.”