Lauren Martin
Lauren Martin is a theatrical milliner based in Nottingham. She was born in Melbourne, Australia, where she trained as a costume maker. In 2006 she moved to London and worked for several years in the workroom of Philip Treacy. Since 2013 she has lived in Nottingham, and recently set up a millinery workroom within a former Victorian lace factory.
Along with making hats and headwear for theatre and film, she mostly now concentrates on recreating historical styles for museums and heritage organisations, applying the couture skills learned in London to her recreations. Lauren also collects vintage and antique millinery materials, alongside a growing collection of women’s Victorian and Edwardian headwear. This keen interest in dress history led her to embark on an MA by research at the University of Huddersfield, which she completed in 2021 with a thesis titled ‘Millinery and headwear in 1830s England’. Her current research focuses on recreating bonnets from extant garments that date from 1830 to 1880, with the long term aim of one day publishing her patterns.
Lauren is also a lecturer, teaching costume construction and millinery at Nottingham Trent University.