DESIGNER'S NOTES

A blue and green Fox & Chave silk habotai scarf featuring peacock feathers in a stylised repeat design typical of the Art Nouveau movement

Peacock feathers were a beloved motif in Art Nouveau, symbolising beauty, sensuality, and the mysteries of nature.

Drawn from the natural world yet laden with mythic meaning, the peacock represented immortality, pride, and artistic freedom. Art Nouveau artists, fascinated by organic curves and rhythmic patterns, transformed the feather’s sinuous lines and iridescent hues into flowing designs for jewellery, stained glass, illustration, and architecture.

Figures such as Alphonse Mucha and René Lalique embraced its elegance, integrating the feather into images of feminine grace and spiritual renewal. In Art Nouveau, the peacock feather became an emblem of nature’s perfection, decadent yet pure, uniting craftsmanship, symbolism, and the pursuit of aesthetic harmony.

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.