The Collection: A Visual Diary of Towels and Travel
By Tierney Gearon
My journey with Hermès beach towels started in St. Barts in the early 1990s when we came on holiday with my firstborn for Christmas. The island quickly became my spiritual home – a sacred space for family, beauty, and constant inspiration.
For over 30 years, St. Barts has been a canvas for my creativity: countless art projects and photographs that made their way into galleries, museums, and private art collections.
I am happiest when I am with my family and creating. My father always described me as a right-brained free spirit, like an improv jazz musician – always creating in the moment, never doing the same thing twice. My mind fires crazily when I am in the flow. Layering image after image, trusting instinct over intellect. When I see something magical, I capture it instantly—no overthinking, just feeling. That spirit is woven through The Collection.
I bought my first Hermes towel in 1991. At that time, the Hermes boutique was run by a sophisticated French husband-and-wife team, Catherine and Pero Feric. The husband would stand at the door and decide who could — or could not — enter. If you were lucky enough to be invited into their carefully curated space, the first thing you would see was a wall of shelves with towering stacks of colorful towels. Piles of gorgeous merchandise were juxtaposed with idiosyncratic Caribbean décor.
Being visual, I was instantly drawn to the playful, eye-catching designs. These thick, elegant, and magnificent pieces became part of our daily lives — wrapping my kids in vibrant, tactile art and adding a pop of color to my imagery.
Over the years, what began as a single treasured towel soon grew into a beloved collection of 300. During Lockdown, I became more passionate, searching day and night for every design I could find. Each piece celebrates artistry and craftsmanship.
Their beauty inspired a unique, creative project: a travelogue that merges my love for design, photography, and exploration. So, for the next three years, I photographed my towels on a road trip around the world, from the vibrant streets of Mexico City, the big skies of Montana, the serene coasts of California, and the rich cultures of India, Marrakech, Greece, Japan, Hawaii, and, always, back to my spiritual home base and where the project stared, the light and magic of St. Barts.
Each towel, carefully placed within its environment, becomes a part of the story, blending seamlessly with natural and cultural landscapes, inviting us to reimagine the connection between art and place.
This project is my visual diary. It is a meditation on beauty, place, and time – a celebration of how the simplest object can become art when framed by imagination.
A towel, through the right lens, is not just a towel. It’s a fragment of a larger story, a symbol of home, childhood, escape, and joy. The Collection is the intersection of my life as an artist, traveler, mother, and impulsive collector. It’s everything I love – gathered, layered, and set free into the world.