Maison Michel: The Book by HF Iamarino

THE ART OF MAKING HATS

Maison Michel

Text ÂŠ 2011 by Editions Flamarion Design ÂŠ 2011 by B. Piazzai, H. Iamarino First Published in Italy by Massimo Pitis Pub, a member of Publishing Group Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101 Telephone: (978) 282-9590 Fax: (978) 283-2742 www.maisonmichelbook.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, a rising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We a pologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book. 10987654321 ISBN-1 3: 978-1-59253-701-3 ISBN-l0: 1-59253-701-4 Digital edition published in 2017 eISBN-13: 978-1-61058-043-4 Digital edition: 978-1-61058-043-4 Softcover edition: 978-1-59253-701-3 Design: Brigitta Piazzai and Henrique Iamarino Photographs by Google Images unless otherwise has noted. Printed in Italy.

To August

Maison Michel

Headger 1842 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Now

Back In Time Known for its sophisticated yet imaginative collections, La Maison Michel is a leading fashion house when it comes to millinery.

Maison Michel

While there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that.[citation needed] Archaeologists think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man (nicknamed Ötzi) whose body (including his hat) was found frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where he’d been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a chin strap, made of several hides stitched together, essentially resembling a Russian fur hat without the flaps. Carle Vernet’s 1796 painting showing two decadent French “Incredibles” greeting each other, one with what appears to be a top hat, perhaps its first recorded appearance. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a tomb painting from Thebes, Egypt, which shows a man wearing a conical straw hat, dated to around 3200 BC. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt. Many upper-class Egyptians shaved their heads, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a simple skull-like cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome (which became iconic in America during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as a symbol of the struggle for liberty against the Monarchy); and the Greek petasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples. Like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the patron saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet, around 800 AD. 8

Vernatq uiatus nis dolore ruptatur reratem odiatur minvernatur, sed maxime vento otmni di officil luptatusanis erum rerferit arionsent voles conectatist, ut andiani.

Back In Time

In the Middle Ages, hats were a marker of social status and used to single out certain groups. The 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required that all Jews identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat (“Jewish hat”), marking them as targets for anti-Semitism The hats were usually yellow and were either pointed or square. In the Middle Ages, hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, and denoted social status. Structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century.The term ‘milliner’ comes from the Italian city of Milan, where the best quality hats were made in the 18th century. Millinery was traditionally a woman’s occupation, with the milliner not only creating hats and bonnets but also choosing lace, trimmings and accessories to complete an outfit. Left-to-right: Top-hat, peaked cap, Borsalino, bowler hat (Sweden, early 20th century). A hat shop from about 1900 inside the Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum In the first half of the 19th century, women wore bonnets that gradually became larger, decorated with ribbons, flowers, feathers, and gauze trims. By the end of the century, many other styles were introduced, among them hats with wide brims and flat crowns, the flower pot and the toque. By the middle of the 1920s, when women began to cut their hair short, they chose hats that hugged the head like a helmet.

Maison Michel

The tradition of wearing hats to horse racing events began at the Royal Ascot in Britain, which maintains a strict dress code. All guests in the Royal Enclosure must wear hats. This tradition was adopted at other horse racing events, such as the Kentucky Derby in the United States. Extravagant hats were popular in the 1980s, and in the early 21st century, flamboyant hats made a comeback, with a new wave of competitive young milliners designing creations that include turban caps, trompe-l’oeil-effect felt hats and tall headpieces made of human hair. Some new hat collections have been described as “wearable sculpture.” Many pop stars, among them Lady Gaga, have commissioned hats as publicity stunts. Hatmaking or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and head-ware. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Millinery is sold to women, men and children, though some definitions limit the term to women’s hats. Historically, milliners, typically female shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men, women, and children, including hats, shirts, cloaks, shifts, caps, neckerchiefs, and undergarments, and sold these garments in their millinery shop. More recently, the term milliner has evolved to describe a person who designs, makes, sells or trims hats primarily for a female clientele. The origin of the term is probably the Middle English milener, meaning an inhabitant of the city of Milan or one who deals in items from Milan, known for its fashion and clothing. While there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that.[citation needed] Archaeologists[which?] think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man (nicknamed Ötzi) whose body (including his hat) was found frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where he’d been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a chin strap, made of several hides stitched together, essen10

Although the Panama hat continues to provide a livelihood for thousands of Ecuadorians, fewer than a dozen weavers capable of making the finest “Montecristi superfinos” remain.

Back In Time

tially resembling a Russian fur hat without the flaps. Carle Vernet’s 1796 painting showing two decadent French “Incredibles” greeting each other, one with what appears to be a top hat, perhaps its first recorded appearance. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a tomb painting from Thebes, Egypt, which shows a man wearing a conical straw hat, dated to around 3200 BC. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt. Many upper-class Egyptians shaved their heads, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a simple skull-like cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome (which became iconic in America during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as a symbol of the struggle for liberty against the Monarchy); and the Greek petasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples. Like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the patron saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet, around 800 AD. In the Middle Ages, hats were a marker of social status and used to single out certain groups. The 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required that all Jews identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat (“Jewish hat”), marking them as targets for anti-Semitism. The hats were usually yellow and were either pointed or square. In the Middle Ages, hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, and denoted social status. Structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century. The term ‘milliner’ comes from the Italian city of Milan, where the best quality hats were made in the 18th century. Millinery was traditionally a woman’s occupation, with the milliner not only creating hats and bonnets but also choosing lace, trimmings and accessories to complete an outfit.

Maison Michel

Back In Time

Maison Michel

Back In Time

Maison Michel

Back In Time

Maison Michel

Back In Time

Maison Michel

Headger 1842 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Now

Elegance & Men The hat hides his head, but under his face his face changes his appearance in a play of winking, seduction, provocation that makes him truly a magic tool.

Michel, August, 1800-1828

Maison Michel

ats are slowly becoming a daily accessory for more and more modern gentlemen, reminding us of a time in America when men wouldn’t leave the house without one. Men’s hats come in many shapes, sizes and fabrics. So to make it easier for you, we’ve broken down the basic hat styles, offered a little background history, and provided some pointers for adding them to your wardrobe. A fedora is typically creased lengthwise down the middle of the crown, then “pinched” near the front on both sides. Fedoras have become widely associated with gangsters and Prohibition, which coincided with the height of the hat’s popularity in the 1920s to early 1950s. They were a daily accessory for many American men until JFK, a style icon in his own right, started making public appearances sanschapeau and started a 40-year trend toward general hatlessness. A good felt (or straw) fedora has a sturdy but flexible brim that can be “snapped up” or “snapped down” in the front or back, allowing you to mold the brim and achieve the perfect, slightly-askew shape. My favorite are unlined and crushable. Find one in a quality lightweight felt (probably a versatile shade of brown) with a brim that’s roughly 2.5″ wide (depending on the size and shape of your face), then start working on perfecting the subtle side tilt. The fedora’s dressier cousin, the homburg, also made primarily of fur felt or straw, is a good choice for a formal business look. It has the same centercreased crown as the fedora (although sometimes not the side pinches), but the brim is stiffer and has an upturned lip all the way around (which usually cannot be molded or “snapped down”). The trilby has a shorter (thus narrower) brim which is angled down (“snapped down”) at the front and turned up at the back, versus the fedora’s wider brim which is more level and flat. The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design. It reached its zenith of common popularity in the 1960s; the lower head clearance in American automobiles made it impractical to wear a hat with a tall crown while driving. It faded from popularity in the 1970s when any type of men’s headwear went out of fashion. They had a moment of rise with 90’s boy bands and cheesy musicians, but lately they’ve landed closer to being a symbol of nerd culture, especially cheap versions made of synthetic fabrics.

They had a moment of rise with 90’s boy bands and cheesy musicians, but lately they’ve landed closer to being a symbol of nerd culture. 22

Elegance & Men

Maison Michel

While there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that.Archaeologists think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man (nicknamed Ötzi) whose body (including his hat) was found frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where he’d been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a chin strap, made of several hides stitched together, essentially resembling a Russian fur hat without the flaps. Carle Vernet’s 1796 painting showing two decadent French “Incredibles” greeting each other, one with what appears to be a top hat, perhaps its first recorded appearance. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a tomb painting from Thebes, Egypt, which shows a man wearing a conical straw hat, dated to around 3200 BC. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt. Many upper-class Egyptians shaved their heads, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a simple skull-like cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome (which became iconic in America during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as a symbol of the struggle for liberty against the Monarchy); and the Greek petasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples. Like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the patron saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet, around 800 AD. In the Middle Ages, hats were a marker of social status and used to single out certain groups. The 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required that all Jews identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat (“Jewish hat”), marking them as targets for anti-Semitism The hats were usually yellow and were either pointed or square. In the Middle Ages, hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, and denoted social status. Structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century.The

As fashion writer Glenn O’Brien once joked; “the porkpie hat is the mark of the determined hipster, the kind of cat you might see hanging around a jazz club or a pool hall.

Elegance & Men

term ‘milliner’ comes from the Italian city of Milan, where the best quality hats were made in the 18th century. Millinery was traditionally a woman’s occupation, with the milliner not only creating hats and bonnets but also choosing lace, trimmings and accessories to complete an outfit. Left-to-right: Top-hat, peaked cap, Borsalino, bowler hat (Sweden, early 20th century). A hat shop from about 1900 inside the Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum. In the first half of the 19th century, women wore bonnets that gradually became larger, decorated with ribbons, flowers, feathers, and gauze trims. By the end of the century, many other styles were introduced, among them hats with wide brims and flat crowns, the flower pot and the toque. By the middle of the 1920s, when women began to cut their hair short, they chose hats that hugged the head like a helmet.[9] Extravagant hats were popular in the 1980s, and in the early 21st century, flamboyant hats made a comeback, with a new wave of competitive young milliners designing creations that include turban caps, trompe-l’oeil-effect felt hats and tall headpieces made of human hair. Some new hat collections have been described as “wearable sculpture.” Many pop stars, among them Lady Gaga, have commissioned hats as publicity stunts.

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Headger 1842 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Now

Women & Beauty Women headwear began in earnest during the Middle Ages when the church decreed that their hair must be covered.

Michel um nis ecati moloria con conem vellecep.

Michel, August, 1800-1828

Women & Beauty

uring the 18th century, milliners took the hat-making art out of the home and established the millinery profession. Today, a ‘milliner’ defines a person associated with the profession of hat making. In the 18th century however, a milliner was more of a stylist. Traditionally a woman’s occupation, the milliner not only created hats or bonnets to go with costumes but also chose the laces, trims and accessories to complete an ensemble. The term ‘milliner’ comes from the Italian city of Milan, where in the 1700’s, the finest straws were braided and the best quality hat forms were made. In the 1770’s (when huge wigs and hairstyles were fashionable) the ‘calash’ bonnet was worn to protect the high hairstyles from the weather. Collapsible bonnets, they were made of strips of wood or whalebone sewn into channels of a silk hood. A front ribbon allowed the wearer to hold the calash securely over her face while walking in the wind. A taste for simpler fabrics in the 1780’s, anticipated the more democratic styles that followed the French Revolution. Cotton was introduced as a fashion fabric. Simple cotton house bonnets ornamented with a separate ribbon became fashionable for all echelons of society. The elite still wore hats (sometimes atop the bonnet) with tall crowns adorned with wide silk ribbon bows. Hats fell from favour after the French Revolution. They were associated with the upper classes and it was considered stylish to be democratic. Turbans were introduced into English fashions in the 1790’s and remained fashionable until the 1820’s. Style inspiration came from England’s increased trade with India for cotton. This was necessitated by inaccessibility to other cotton markets, namely Napoleon’s Egypt and the United States, with which relations were still poor. In the 1810’s straw bonnets were de rigueur. Alternatively, inexpensive ‘bonnet board’ was used. It was made of cardboard, then pressed in a roller machine to create a design. Bonnet board was also a response to lack of trade goods from Napoleon’s Italy, the traditional source for quality straw bonnets. Experiments with silk covered buckram proved successful for creating bonnets. It was used briefly in hats of the 1820’s that were decorated with towers of panaches (feather plumes) and silk bows.

Maison Michel

While there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that.Archaeologists think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man (nicknamed Ötzi) whose body (including his hat) was found frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where he’d been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a chin strap, made of several hides stitched together, essentially resembling a Russian fur hat without the flaps. Carle Vernet’s 1796 painting showing two decadent French “Incredibles” greeting each other, one with what appears to be a top hat, perhaps its first recorded appearance. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a tomb painting from Thebes, Egypt, which shows a man wearing a conical straw hat, dated to around 3200 BC. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt. Many upper-class Egyptians shaved their heads, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a simple skulllike cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome (which became iconic in America during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as a symbol of the struggle for liberty against the Monarchy); and the Greek petasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples. Like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the patron saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet, around 800 AD. 36

Vernatq uiatus nis dolore ruptatur reratem odiatur minvernatur, sed maxime vento otmni di officil luptatusanis erum rerferit arionsent voles conectatist, ut andiani.

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Women & Beauty

Maison Michel

Headger 1842 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Now

We are Maison Michel The House of Chanel bought the Michel House in 1996. Contemporary collections of straw hats, berets, rain hats, caps and hats are created from 2006.

Maison Michel

Michel um nis ecati moloria con conem vellecep.

Laetitia Crahay A

t the end of high school leaves Brussels to undertake architectural studies in Italy. Formed then in fashion design studio La Cambre she quickly made a name in the fashion world. Noticed early on by Karl Lagerfeld latter put him in charge of accessories and jewelry at Chanel. In 2006 she was appointed to head the artistic director of the house Michael.

unning parallel to these hat making arts were feather workshops or more correctly workshops called plumassiers where feathers were dyed and made into arrangements from boas to aigrettes to tufts and sprays for both the worlds of fashion and interiors. Plumes have always been a status symbol and sign of economic stability.

We are Maison Michel

ortunes were paid by individuals for exotic feathered hats. Feathered hats could command as much as ÂŁ100 in the early Edwardian era. Edwardians were masters in the art of excess and the flamboyant hats of the era are a clear example of this. At one point whole stuffed birds were used to decorate hats, but as the new more enlightened century emerged, protests were voiced.

Maison Michel

â&#x20AC;&#x153; Uiatus nis dolore ruptatur odiatur min vernatur, sed maxime vento otmni di officil luptatusanis erum rerferit arionsent voles conectatist, ut andiani.

Like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the patron saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered 49

We are Maison Michel

One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a tomb painting from Thebes, Egypt, which shows a man wearing a conical straw hat, dated to around 3200 BC. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt. Many upper-class Egyptians shaved their heads, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a simple skull-like cap; the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome (which became iconic in America during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as a symbol of the struggle for liberty against the Monarchy); and the Greek petasos, the first known hat with a brim. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples.

wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet, around 800 AD.

Maison Michel

the early 21st century, flamboyant hats made a comeback, with a new wave of competitive young milliners designing creations that include turban caps, trompe-l’oeil-effect felt hats and tall headpieces made of human hair. Some new hat collections have been described as “wearable sculpture.” Many pop stars, among them Lady Gaga, have commissioned hats as publicity stunts.

We are Maison Michel

Hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, and denoted social status. Structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century.The term ‘milliner’ comes from the Italian city of Milan, where the best quality hats were made in the 18th century. Millinery was traditionally a woman’s occupation, with the milliner not only creating hats and bonnets but also choosing lace, trimmings and accessories to complete an outfit. Left-to-right: Top-hat, peaked cap, Borsalino, bowler hat (Sweden, early 20th century). A hat shop from about 1900 inside the Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum In the first half of the 19th century, women wore bonnets that gradually became larger, decorated with ribbons, flowers, feathers, and gauze trims. By the end of the century, many other styles were introduced, among them hats with wide brims and flat crowns, the flower pot and the toque. By the middle of the 1920s, when women began to cut their hair short, they chose hats that hugged the head like a helmet.

As the years have passed hats have slowly lost favour, even for weddings and worship with only a proportion of the congregations donning them. They have never been worn universally since the 1920s. They were popular again in the 1980s for weddings and special occasions after the Princess of Wales, Diana used them to add a sense of sophistication to her persona in the early days of her marriage. Once she found her confidence she abandoned hats for most occasions.

Maison Michel

Hats when worn today are either worn for a special dressy occasion such as a wedding or conversely as casual statement attire in the way that caps might be worn the wrong way around. Functional hats are still used by uniformed workers for corporate identity or protection as well as by many individuals in inclement weather. Individuals wear fur hats or simple fleece beanie hats in very cold weather and use sunhats in very sunny weather. Those who cannot bear a hat unwittingly adopt a hat form built into a garment, as in a hoodie casual zip top. It is unlikely that the hat will ever die as an accessory as it offers far too much potential for drawing attention to the face. Fashion designers are aware of this and every so often exploit this fact in the hope that fashion followers will adopt the hat. In the world of logos, branding and status symbols the hat is an easy and usually less costly item to purchase from a design house and can make them a great deal of money if a particular item catches the imagination of the public. Often it advertises the company name.

Before the War being in service as servants was the usual employment for most women as housemaids or cooks.

Unfortunately the fact that a hat being relatively small is more easily affordable by the masses, means that every so often an item like the Burberry cap found itself eventually banned from certain social venues as it became associated with poor street and pub and club behaviour. Recently Burberry withdrew this hat in order to disassociate itself from those who wore it as a uniform that gave the message bad boys!

Before the Great War being in service as servants was the usual employment for most women as housemaids, cooks or seamstresses. Choice had opened up in the last two decades and slowly some had become shop workers at the new emerging department stores and the more technically minded had become stenographers or telephonists. Women began to seriously participate in sports and needed clothes to move freely.

We are Maison Michel

Then when the Second World War 1939-45 started, hats became less practical as people had to rush to air raid shelters and they would literally drop everything. Barriers of etiquette became broken down and although hats were not rationed in order to boost morale their wearing decreased.

Maison Michel

We are Maison Michel