The leading French luxury house of Hermès is world-famous for accessories and clothing made from fine leathers and luxurious silks. The subject matter of their silk scarves often reference the lifestyle of the typical Hermès customer with motifs based on horse-riding, hunting, shooting and fishing and other country sports. The scarves are designed by a range of highly talented artists, and are marketed as 'carrés' by the house (carré is the French word for square). This carré is shown with the original light folds and creases from having been folded in its presentation box. This is part of the Hermès signature. The superb quality and smoothness of the silk used means that these folds typically disappear within a hour or so of wearing, and visible light creases from correct storage are seen as highlighting the quality of the Hermès product rather than detracting.

Between 1946 and 1959 Hugo Grygkar (1907-1959) designed over 100 scarves for Hermès. Many of his designs continue to be re-issued by the company well into the early 21st century. Grygkar drew upon a wide range of sources for his work, including historic caricatures and prints. 'Paris Modistes,' which was first issued in 1956, is a good example of this. Grygkar frequently started from the outside, creating carefully drawn, complex borders, and then drew the centre motif afterwards, leaving plenty of space in between. In this scarf, the empty space is filled with dozens of women's bonnets and hats shown tumbling from a large hatbox. The five female figures shown are based upon 1810s fashion plates, while the hats and bonnets depicted range in style and date from the early 1800s to the mid-1850s. Many Hermès clients might wear their carrés as headscarves, which makes the subject matter of hats particularly witty.