Guiguichon Silk Habotai Scarf

DESIGNER'S NOTES

A colourful Fox & Chave silk habotai scarf with a design derived from a hand knotted carpet by Suzanne Guiguichon (1900-1985) created between 1925 and 1927.

Characterised by its vivid, abstract botanical motifs, the hand-knotted wool rug embodied the French Art Deco movement of the 1920s. It was commercialised through La Maîtrise, the dedicated home furnishings workshop within Paris’s Galeries Lafayette department store.

During this period, designer Suzanne Guiguichon operated within the studio under the leadership of Maurice Dufrène. Though she routinely designed furniture, timepieces, lighting, and textiles anonymously under the company umbrella, she deliberately departed from protocol by weaving her initials into this specific piece. Visually, the rug’s composition borrows heavily from Dufrène’s signature aesthetic rather than the look that would later define Guiguichon’s independent career.

A distinct stylistic pivot occurred after 1930, when Guiguichon left the department store to establish her own practice on the rue de Clichy. Moving away from the ornamental influence of her early mentors, her solo work embraced a starker, more utilitarian vocabulary rooted in Modernist restraint and geometric simplicity.

COLOURS

STYLING

A Fox & Chave habotai silk scarf can be worn with the classic knot style or a pussycat bow. You can even create a shawl effect by knotting two scarves together behind your neck and allowing them to drape over your shoulders. More scarf styling ideas are available in this wonderful How to Tie a Scarf book.