Collecting Designer Scarves

Collectors of designer scarves are spoilt for choice. Most high end fashion houses create scarves to complement their collections, and there are some wonderful solo designers producing their own collections.

Among the fashion houses most renowned for their scarves are Hermès, Ferragamo and Pucci. If you are one of the many entranced by Hermès, then ThePerfectRedBox.com's Beginners Guide to Collecting Hermès Scarves [update: the article was at http://www.theperfectredbox.com/article_9/A-Beginners-Guide-to-Collecting-Hermes-Scarves.htm but is sadly no longer available] is a must-read, packed with fascinating information!

Hermès scarves are also the subject of this interesting article from the Financial Times, which suggests that the Hermès carré may be an excellent investment.

At a somewhat lower price point, well-known scarf designers include Liberty, Echo and the prolific and wonderful Vera (Vera Neumann, my personal favorite). Notable among many other superb scarf designers are Maggy Rouff, Richard Allen (who was involved with the vintage and highly collectable Jacqmar label) and Zandra Rhodes, who got one of her first breaks selling her hand printed scarves to a boutique in London. And of course Chanel, Dior, Gucci and many other designers produce beautiful high quality scarves that are as collectable as they are desirable.

Many, but not all, designer scarves feature a signature. Personally I feel that it's a pity to overlook a beautiful scarf because it lacks a signature. However, it is true that those with signatures are more likely to hold and/or increase in value.

Due to the prices of designer scarves, most collectors will be forced to be very selective. Concentrate perhaps on scarves from certain years, or by particular artists working for a particular design house.

Sadly, fakes are everywhere. See Counterfeit, Fake and Reproduction Scarves for tips on how to avoid them.

Next: More Ideas for Collecting Scarves