millinery

One of the two milliners whose designs we pulled for our Put A Lid On It photo shoot was Molly Yestadt of Yestadt Millinery. The New York designer, whom this editor met during her NYU days, walks to the beat of her own drummer. From our late teen years to now we've always admired Yestadt's inherent sense of style and disregard for the monotonous in fashion. Now with her own full-fledged millinery company Yestadt is taking her sense of fashion, which is undeniably unique, and applying it to a genre that so deserves a young, creative voice. Below, our quick interview with the designer.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into millinery?
My Grandfather and great Grandfather were furriers in Chicago, while the other side of my family had a tailors shop on the west side of Manhattan so I’ve always been around old world craftsmanship. Ive been doing Millinery since 2004 and Its been a real drive for me to create hand made pieces with the same skill and quality.

The history of hats/headpieces/scarves/coverings is rich with cultural information. How do these complexities inform your designs?
Millinery is an old trade, so there’s a ton of technique and craft involved in each design. In the community where I grew up, wearing a hat has connections to modesty, marriage, and status. It’s an accessory that bridges fashion and art with traditions.

Why do you think American women stopped wearing hats as fashion accessories? Do you think this will change?
Hats may have slipped from the wardrobe as American women became more informal and casual. Woman today have been spoiled in to thinking that everything needs to be comfortable. I think Men and Women are beginning to wear more hats already. Everyone wants to wear something special and different, it’s almost like a reaction to the big disposable fashion people are used to.

What other milliner do you admire and why?
Stephen Jones is quite inspirational in his manipulation of lines and materials. I also look to Cha Cha’s House of Ill Repute for their amazingly textured product and constant reinvention of the fedora.

What don't people know about this particular type of design?
To dress a head is really to frame the face and neck. Each hat’s contour has the ability to highlight a different feature. Like any other kind of handmade product, there is a lot in the details.

In terms of your own company, what projects or accomplishments are on the horizon?
Haha filling orders! I do a lot of bridal in addition to the fashion pieces I make so its always pretty hectic in the workshop. Also, Im working on a lot of exciting pieces for winter that are going to be totally outrageous with lots of furs and leathers.

Victor Osborne, at least in New York, is a name you recognize even if you're not sure just where to place it. Osborne is the milliner, you realize, responsible for the hats and headpieces in countless editorials you've scanned. It's possible you've tried on his creations at Intermix or Barneys. He's also, you remember hearing at a cocktail party or showroom, a mere 23 years old. Well, at least that's how it happened for us. We'd met Osborne a few weeks ago without realizing it. We'd actually been in his space, which serves as the atelier and showroom for his company (which he runs with his business partner Zachary Barnett, 24 years old), and just didn't put it all together. Perhaps it's that he's so young, or that between the barman we recognized from Hotel Delmano, the amazing artist whose work brought us to the event, and the appearance of a certain blonde supermodel, it just slipped our minds to think about, well, the designer who made the whole thing happen. We're very happy to be up on the Victor Osborne pursuit and, to accompany his creations as seen in today's original Coutorture editorial Put A Lid On It, to publish a few quick thoughts from the designer on his blossoming company.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you started out in millinery?
I had an aunt with great hats that I loved as a child. When I was at FIT I took a millinery course and realized that I was the only student under 30... by 20 years. It was kind of like a challenge.

The history of hats/headpieces/scarves/coverings is rich with cultural information. How do these complexities inform your designs?
Our line is full of historical reference, some of our best selling felt shapes are blocks scored off a retiring costume designer from the Metropolitan opera. This incorporation of the historical is entrenched in the line.

Why do you think American women stopped wearing hats as fashion accessories? Do you think this will change?
There are a lot of factors. Casual dressing has plagued America for ages for one. Big hair is another reason. The list could go on, but I am just thrilled that so many people are responding so strongly to the line.

What other milliner do you admire and why?
[Phillip] Treacy does amazing runway millinery, as does Stephen Jones. Etre had an amazing way of drawing millinery. My favorite milliner is Dài-Rees. He is a welsch milliner, who made the hats for Mcqueen for a few seasons, who also had his own line for a while. I also really admire Lilly Dache, and Schiaparelli.

What don't people know about this particular type of design?
Most people don't know that you bake straw and felt hats.

In terms of your brand, what projects or accomplishments are on the horizon?
> We are planning some great collaborative projects with really creative designers like Tim Hamilton, and the Blonds. That's always exciting. There might be a trip in the fall to a couple countries to source some new materials which would be a blast.