Millinery Maestro: Stephen Jones

Images courtesy of Stephen Jones

Millinery Maestro: Stephen Jones

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“Every time a hat is born, there’s a strange dance that the designer and I do.” -Stephen Jones

Words: Javier Barcala

Born in Cheshire and schooled in Liverpool, Stephen Jones burst onto the London fashion scene during the street style explosion of the late 1970s. By day, he was a student at St. Martins; after dark, he was one of that era’s uncompromising style-blazers at the legendary Blitz nightclub—always exquisitely dressed, and always crowned with a striking hat of his own idiosyncratic design.

It was during an internship at the Lachasse fashion house that he first discovered a flair for millinery. He was then sharing a house in north London with Boy George and the artist Grayson Perry, and dressing up became a competition. Jones remembers, “We could get away with anything. I remember one night going to Blitz in a pinstripe suit and stilettos.”

His millinery obsession continued to grow over the years. Says Jones, “The thing about hats is that they can totally transform you. The hat is a dream ticket to be able to be someone else. You don’t look like this. This is not your background, nor your destiny, but you can be the thing on your head. That sort of information in a hat is convincing, whereas if you put that sort of idea into clothing, it becomes costume…”

Only a year after graduating, he opened his first shop, near the Georgian town house that is his showroom today, where Princess Diana became an early patron. The cream of couture followed: along a career of almost three decades, Jones has accessorized collections by Rei Kawakubo, Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton, John Galliano, Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs, among others. In his words, “Every time a hat is born, there’s a strange dance that the designer and I do. You have to get excited about it. There has to be love. And trust. You really have to get into what they’re into and understand their mind…It’s been a huge privilege to delve into the minds of the greatest designers of our times.”

Jones makes millinery seem modern and compelling. In materials that are often radical, and in designs that range from refined to whimsical, his exquisitely crafted, quixotic hats encapsulate the fashion mood of the moment.

His era-defining edge continues to attract celebrity clientele (Dita von Teese, Beyoncé, Cate Blanchett…) and also the critics’ attention. Last November, his skill and originality were honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards, the industry’s answer to the Oscars. According to Jones, the turbulent economic period we’re going through is just the perfect time for new, anarchic waves of style change. “Fashion only makes sense when it’s linked to a political moment. The corset went out because of the First World War. The New Look happened because people wanted to have entertainment after the war. Punk happened and Vivienne, who is an amazing designer, happened because it made sense in the political climate. The same with Aläi and power dressing…”

Now, as ever, at the forefront of fashion, he’s been chosen to curate the Victoria & Albert Museum’s (London) first exhibition devoted to hats. Hats: An Anthology, opens this February with more than 300 hats selected by Jones’s expert eye. Display pieces range from an Egyptian Anubis mask dating from 600 BC to a 1950’s Balenciaga hat to couture creations by Jones and his contemporaries. He recalls, “The original idea was to come and look at their hat collection and do an exhibition based on that. I went into their storerooms and spent a year in there with a thousand hats, and then I went to Bath, Stockport, Luton, FIT in NYC, the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Kyoto…So it’s a third V&A, a third my hats and a third from other collections.”

The V&A exhibition is actually divided into four areas:

Inspiration opens with Prince Albert’s top hat and Queen Victoria’s bonnet, and considers how the past has inspired countless designers.

Creation is set up like a milliner’s showroom, with patterns, sketches, materials and millinery blocks.

The Salon reflects the milliner’s public showcase, featuring spectacular hats that demonstrate sartorial craft at its best. Designs on display include the work of Philip Treacy, Mitza Bricard for Christian Dior, Vladzio d’Attainville for Balenciaga, Claude St. Cyr for Norman Hartnell, Chanel and Stephen Jones.

The Client presents hats worn by famous clients, including royalty and avid collectors Gertrude Shilling, Isabella Blow and Anna Piagi, as well as hats worn by Boy George and Madonna. There are also hats designed by Cecil Beaton for My Fair Lady, since, as Jones explains, Beaton has been of such great inspiration. “Hats: An Anthology is based on a Cecil Beaton exhibition from 1972, which was only the second fashion exhibition at the V&A. Beaton definitively helped put fashion firmly on the museum’s agenda.”

The exhibit includes designs from Jones’s two most recent collections: VANDA and Albertopolis, both inspired by his work with the V&A. The designer concludes, “Since my college days, the V&A has been a treasure trove of inspiration, but to study their archive was a dream come true.”

With Jones’s curatorial vision at the helm, Hats: An Anthology might make all our millinery dreams come true. The exhibit runs through May 31^st, 2009.