The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

Jada Brookes attended the London Hat Week Exhibition at the Black Swan Studios in London to see the fascinating designs of UK and international milliners. biteexhibition F ollowing the London Hat Week Exhibition Catwalk Show at Shangri-La Hotel in March 2020, the resched- uled To The Future and Back exhibition was held in October at the Black Swan Studios in Bermondsey, London. The official exhibition series takes its influence from the historic Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations that took place in 1851 at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. It was the first in a series of World’s Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century. It is for this reason that the London Hat Week Exhibition cel- ebrates world cultural heritage by showcasing milliners and their magnificent hat designs from around the world. The year 2020, once seemed like a fictional milestone, was the theme of this year’s futuristic presentation. Hat lovers were invited to time travel to the future with hat designs inspired by space travel, virtual or imagined world, sci-fi movies, or made from environmentally friendly, high technology, or non-traditional materials. The Retro theme allowed other milliners to go back to the past to show the glorious eras when people wore beautiful and el- egant hats as the highlight of their daily outfits. In this catego- ry, the designers could choose to use vintage fabrics, recycled felt or accessories such as feathers, ribbons, and velvet or they could try to recreate the elegant shapes and lovely details that have disappeared from the fashion and millinery scenes be- tween the 1920s and 1960s. Monique Lee Hylands-White, founder of the X Terrace fashion platform and her brand Monique Lee Millinery has curated the London Hat Exhibition since 2015. She is an MA London Col- lege of Fashion womenswear graduate and a principal lecturer in Fashion at Coventry University London. The creative has designed some exciting and awe-inspiring hats that are adven- turous, experimental in materials, construction, and colours. Since starting her brand in 2013, she has featured on over 200 covers and editorials. What I love about Monique is that she is very humble. Whilst she has been very successful in her business and collaborated with many prestigious partners such as Dorchester Collection Coworth Park Hotel and Spa, Birmingham City Council for the Chelsea Flower Show, and Le BHV Marais, she prefers to take the spotlight off her and shine it on the many milliners that have been featured. She also allows her students to expe- rience her work in practice and assist her at the exhibitions. Due to the government social distancing guidelines, the exhi- bition had to be divided into half-hour segments throughout the day with a maximum of 30 people allowed to attend at any one time. The hats were on stands positioned around the room with another group in the middle alongside the winning de- signs. As I looked around the room, there were so many ex- traordinary creations that one had a challenging task deciding which one they thought was the best. This year, for the first time, the British Hat Guild presented awards to three of the designers/milliners taking part in the exhibition. The Technical Award judged by award-winning milliner and British Hat Guild founder member Philip Treacy went to Hats by Annity designer Andrea Suto from Hungary for her Explosion piece inspired by a costume worn by Amer- ican film and stage actress Evelyn Brent. It was indeed a lovely intricate creation. Italian hat designer Federika Fabbrikaidee won the Creativity Award judged by Guild member Carole Denford for her Jelly- fish creation inspired by the sea creature in the Mediterranean Sea. Mind Your Bonce Millinery Karen Geraghty from the UK was awarded the Wearability Award judged by Guild member Rachel Richardson for the designer’s Mahina hat influenced by the celestial motif and colours of the art deco period used on a ‘40s hat shape. At the exhibition, several hats caught our attention, such as Italian designer Pamela Castiglia’s Future Chaos motivated by the chaos between recycling love for the environment and nos- talgia for the past. Twisted Thimble Couture designer Nicola Clewer-Evans from the UK’s Jigsaw hat was influenced by the work of Argentine-French artist and designer Pablo Reinoso. Belgium’s Les Moussors de Awa milliner Awa Seck presented Modern Royalty based on a traditional African headgear in a new way. British creative Immy Howard under her namesake millinery brand called her piece Buzz! She explained the concept of the hat as “Sinamay [fabric] inspired by geometry patterns in hon- eycomb and saving bees for our future.” Another UK brand, Jane Fryers Millinery, designed her piece called Retrobella with colleague Gayle E. Cooper. The designer said the hat is “in- spired by a beautiful vintage block and a longstanding dream of making victory rolls out of my own hair.” Lyn Dorf ’s Roberta Potter from the United States had an in- teresting design called Night Sky Black Hole. The hat takes its motivation from the night sky with all the glittering stars and imagining the black hole. A flower solar panel influenced Ireland’s Sinead Harrington Designs floral design Lyra. Lastly, Olamosi’s Ifeoma Wenegieme, also from the United States, cre- ated an untitled design that is inspired by floating sculptures. The coil looked like it extended from one side of the fascinator to the back of the lower neck. A room filled with fascinating creativity, the London Hat Ex- hibition is showing the masses that milliners whether home or abroad are still churning out dynamic and awe-inspiring ideas. We look forward to seeing what these creatives have to offer in 2021. www.londonhatweek.com