Each season, Sydney-based milliner Suzy O’Rourke gets inspiration from a particular theme—Atlantis, Casablanca, Gardens, and for this current Fall/Winter 2012, it’s Gilt.

This recent collection takes its cue from a few past decades, be it 1920s boaters to ‘70s wide brims. Harking back to (...) Read More about Suzy O’Rourke’s Gilt Collection (90 words)

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Artist Barbara Keal began making things out of felt when she became aware of a ” motley herd of almost wild looking sheep”  that graze on her local nature reserve, Malling Hill. She found sanity and vitality visiting them, they allowed her to rise up and out of the human community of the town, acknowledging her membership of the community of all creatures. As an artist  wanting to express this experience through her work, she began her first felting venture making an enormous dress (with skirts of 120 or so Square feet) from their fleeces.

This was feltmaking of epic proportions, the seamless top portion of the dress she worked wet on her body for a perfect fit, whilst the endless skirts were made in panels with the generous help of some heavy horses, who pulled them wrapped around a section of telegraph pole for shrinking. Once finished the skirts of this dress became a hairy cave, which an audience could enter to witness a primitive singing performance.

Starting with sheep hats in a very literal, truth to material sort of way, Keal soon discovered that this wool which was otherwise going to waste could be used to transform people into numerous creatures real and imagined. In her quest for a wider natural fleece colour palate, she found on visiting a local farm the incredible potential of Alpaca neck and leg fleece – another material otherwise destined for dump or bonfire. Being able to make use of these un-valued local materials is very important to her, she is incredibly attuned to the  the basic earthy process which transforms them into works of wearable sculpture.

The way this artist works is energetic and intuitive,  usually having 8 or 10 different bags of local fleece open and mixing and layering freely to achieve a wide range of hues and textures. She uses images of animals to refer to, and sometimes as a discipline trys to follow them very closely whilst at other times  working  purely from imagination. All the hats are wet felted, such a magical and immediate process, the solid wool antlers are created by needle felting.

When the hats were first shown in London at Origin 2010, Keal was utterly astonished by the response, four months work was gone by the end of the second day, and everyone seemed so excited about being an animal. She worked non-stop making hats from September to April, it seemed impossible to keep up. Keal now has made hats for fashion shows, performers and films, but for her these works are pieces of transformational wearable sculpture, whose power can sit latent on a stand or active on your head. Feltworks to make you feel fierce, alive and wild.

More information at www.kealwork.co.uk

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1936- Hatmaker Auguste Michel opens Maison Michel 65 Rue Sainte Anne , Paris…1968 – Pierre Debard takes over with his wife Claudine…1975 – Debard re-introduces Weismanns, old straw sewing machines that enable the creation of straw hats with invisible stitching. These hats appeal to Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent…1980 – Haute couture production begins for Chanel, Givenchy, and Lanvin…(...) Read More about Maison Michel Millinery (204 words)

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One of Japan’s most famous and internationally-known milliners, Akio Hirata, is showcasing more than seventy years of work at the Spiral Garden in Tokyo – The exhibition features more than 4000 white ‘ghost hats’ floating around and acting as shells of the ‘real’ hats on display. This beautiful and dreamy installation was created by Japan’s most exclusive branding agency Nendo.

(...) Read More about Akio Hirata’s Hats Exhibition by Nendo (18 words)

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Piers Atkinson’s latest collection “Paris” consists of a 33-strong extraordinary headpieces. He drew inspiration from the Parisian noir side with its dark cafes and extravagant showgirls and that came across in the unconventional grunge and glamor collection.

(...) Read More about Piers Atkinson Fall 2011 Collection (76 words)

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Indian headgear and accessory designer Shilpa Chavan aka Little Shilpa has the gift of creating amazing head pieces and jewelry. Between her own collection, a few runway collabs (like Manish Arora) and editorial or advertising styling, Little Shilpa is a talented designer to watch (especially her Spring 2010 “Headonism” collection) !

(...) Read More about Shilpa Chavan : Headgear Madness (0 words)

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Having only been showing at New York Fashion Week for three years now, little country New Zealand’s big success Karen Walker continues to keep her Northern Hemisphereans on their toes. Past Fall collection themes have included(...) Read More about She’s Cracked Karen Walker Fall 2009 (219 words)

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The  Lookbook for Susana Monaco‘s Winter collection is simple, chic, yet high detailed.  The clothes are lovely as usual but the head wear is what grabs your attention! The black Fleurette hat, the giant blue flower turban, and the top hat are just the beginning, more here.

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Items like the Mischen BOW PIN (which literally you can incorporate into every outfit) are fun accent pieces for the season. Here are some of my favorite black, blue, and white items from La Garçonne that every fashion forward person should have.

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