Piers Atkinson
Why hats?
My mother is a milliner for theatre, so I grew up with hats – outrageous feather covered ones or ones designed by Gerald Scarfe or for Doctor Who. So it was just what was happening on our kitchen table. But I love them because hats can be used as signifiers; status or tribal symbols – like crowns or chieftain headdresses. A hat is part of the head so very important as a symbol; many hats are really small sculptures that are worn.
Stephen Jones turned up to your grad show. Is he a hero of yours?
Yes – for many reasons. He constantly surprises with hats and I often wonder how he can do this after 30 years of designing. I just remember looking round and there he was, looking at my plaited string and chicken wire headpieces – sewn onto flooring felt. It was a student budget headdress.
The new SS14 collection is called It’s My Party. Do you have a party trick?
When I was watching Twin Peaks as a student, one of the characters tied a knot in a cherry stalk in her mouth with her tongue. I became so obsessed with this that I tried and tried to do it. I can now do it as easily as tying a shoelace. Just ask anyone who knows me during cherry season.
You use a lot of children’s toys as materials in the collection. Where did that idea come from?
It’s about a little girl playing and dreaming in her room. But she keeps getting annoyed by her younger brother who is flicking things and shooting her unicorns with his guns. So she gets her revenge by ‘glamourising’ his dinosaurs with rainbow glitter and make-up.
Who’s the most enigmatic or interesting client you’ve had?
I love Anna Dello Russo and Lady Gaga – usually a designer has to tone down ideas to make them wearable. These two fabulous and inspirational women need everything toned UP! We also sent our hats to Julie Feeney, who did a whole video of our most enormous headpieces. That was fun!
You’re a bit of a Renaissance man – having done illustration, costume design, fashion editing, DJing and party planning on top of millinery. Do you think you’ll ever settle on one profession, or will you always have your fingers in a few pies?
Well I’ve stuck at this for a while now, and I love it. More than anything else, and I think all the previous experience has added up, and informs what I do now; the types of people, communication, networking. But I LOVED doing the nightclubs and parties, and I loved the PR – the insane energy of the door at the shows. It was terrifying but character building, facing the queue of ferocious ticket holders and even more ferocious NON-ticket holders. Now I enjoy team building and business planning with the confidence that the hats sell – which backs it all up.
What’s your dream millinery commission?
Michelle Obama, Grace Jones, or Judi Dench.
What emoji best expresses how you feel right now?
One of those ones that looks wide-eyed with panic. It’s nearly fashion week.
House of Flora
Why hats?
They take up less room than clothes, and after college, I ran out of space. I actually don’t like hats, or at least I didn’t when I started designing them. But then twenty years ago, the type of hat designs you have now didn’t exist. It was either BHS or Philip Treacy.
áDid you study fashion?
Yes, I started out making womenswear, but my clothes were a bit misunderstood. I studied at the Royal College of Art and it was quite conventional at the time. I was there trying to make inflatable jackets. It didn’t go down very well.
You have a short film called Surrealist Wardrobe Malfunction. I feel like there’s a longstanding relationship between surrealism and hats, I don’t know if it’s Elsa Schiaparelli’s fault…
I think she had a lot to do with it! The Italian Futurists’ Hat Manifesto might have done as well. Have you read it? It’s absolutely mad. When the Surrealists moved to London in the 1930s, they all wore hats to art openings; I think it definitely made a huge impact on London Society at the time.
Who buys your designs?
It’s funny because a lot of my clients from the Asian market are very, very young; 17, 18. But then I have another demographic of older women. Women who maybe worked in design but are retired now, who buy jewellery and hats; statement pieces. So it’s both ends of the spectrum. Also, boys are starting to buy them, especially boys in Korea, Taiwan and Bangkok. And I always get lots of buyers from Dublin at the Paris show. I think the Irish market are interested in wearing unusual things that stand out.
Can you predict who will buy what?
No. It’s always a surprise. Every time I’ve tried to design for certain markets, it backfires – people always do the opposite of what you’d expect. If I try and tone down my work to make it more wearable people don’t go for it. People come to me for radical new departures. If I tried to make a hat that looked like a hat they’d be disappointed, I think.
What’s the weirdest hat you’ve made?
Probably one of my collaborations with the hair stylist Neil Moodie. We made a series called Iconic Heads which was pretty “out there”. There was a Farrah Fawcett one that had wooden curls, then we put swarovski on it and it became a Beyoncé.
Your SS14 collection is called Ping Pong. Are you good at ping-pong?
I’m brilliant at ping-pong! I’m obsessed with tennis, so if I can’t play tennis I play ping-pong. It’s good to design a collection around something you’re obsessed with, because you have to work with it for a long time.
What’s your dream commission?
It’s highly unlikely I’ll ever make the Dior hats knowing that Stephen Jones is alive and kicking, so I’ll say Balenciaga. But really, I’d like to design the interiors of rockets or something.
Words: Astrid Luxemburg
