Snapshot: Rolling away from computer design, anchored in craftsmanship, French artists Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmermann, co-founders of Zim&Zou, are focused on creating installations using handcrafted objects made out of tangible materials such as paper, wood, thread and leather. The duo’s latest installation can be seen in the sparkly windows of Hermès Maison Shanghai, where the Museum of Natural History became the inspiration for a window setting that tells the story of a nature, earth’s elements and a well-fashioned archaeologist.

Anchored in craftsmanship, Zim&Zou created all the elements composing the Hermès Maison window installation by hand, from drawing to cutting and assembling. For this presentation, all of the animals were carefully handcrafted using leather offcuts from Hermès workshops in Paris.

The windows, hand-made with paper and leather, are an invitation to wander. Passers-by were suddenly walking through the corridors of a mysterious museum, straight from the street. The themes were inspired by nature, the two main windows were about air and water, and the two smaller windows were inspired by Earth. In the water themed window, a 16 foot paper skeleton of an extinct dinosaur swims through the room.

The entire project required three months of work, and the support of a great local team. Thomas and Zimmermann transform flat paper sheets turn into sculptural volumes, giving each installation the poetry of an ephemeral material.

Photography courtesy of Zim&Zou