As a celebration of the life cycle of the hat, the exhibition is categorised into areas of inspiration, creation, the client and the salon, exploring the process of how a hat is realised from it's point of inception to the wearer's head.
Exhibiting a vast collection of elegant, experimental and whimsical hats ranging from those designed by Stephen Jones' for designers such as John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier, to those designed by other milliners such as Piers Atkinson and Nasir Mazhar, the variety of hats on show makes for a fun, exciting display.
After graduating from Central St. Martins School of Art and Design in 1979, Stephen Jones launched his own label: Stephen Jones Millinery.
From here he went on to create head pieces and hats for the prominent fashion houses of Christian Dior and Thierry Mugler, amongst others, constantly deriving ideas for his designs from architecture, geometry, travel and the natural world.
Describing a milliner's workroom as: "half Aladdin's cave and half artist studio" Stephen Jones' designs are inspiring, portraying his own point-of-view with attitude.
As a London-based designer, Jones describes the city as "the hat capital of the world." He says: "From the splendour of the guards' helmets at Buckingham Palace to the baseball caps in Dalston market, the hat is, and has always been, embedded in the city's culture."
Inspired by Cecil Beaton's Fashion: An Anthology' exhibition which was shown in 1971, this Stephen Jones exhibition aims to raise the profile of the hat. Jones' passion for hats exudes from the arrangement at the V&A exhibition for all to digest and absorb.
Rarely seen without a hat himself, it is Jones' adoration of the ultimate accessory, which he suggests is "the cherry on the cake", that makes this exhibition an unmissable insight into the world of hats.
The exhibition is showing at the Victoria & Albert Museum until 31st May 2009. –Kirsty in London
