Noel Stewart
Since establishing his label Noel has created hats for leading fashion designers such as Mulberry, Roland Mouret, Diesel, Roksanda, Erdem, Hussein Chalayan, Richard Nicoll, Jaeger, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Sibling, Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh, House of Holland, Marta Jakubowski, Charles Jeffrey, JW Anderson, Hermes, Oscar de la Renta, Self-Portrait, Kenzo, Givenchy and Valentino. His continuing work with such designers reflects the relevance of his role in contemporary fashion.
Off the catwalk, Noel Stewart has acquired a loyal fan-base. His hats have been worn by Keira Knightly, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Miranda Kerr, Elizabeth Debicki, Lizzo, Paloma Faith, Elisabeth Moss, MO, Victoria Beckham, Carey Mulligan, Cara Delevigne, Goldfrapp, Lady Gaga, Felicity Jones, FKA Twigs, Beth Ditto, Sharon Stone and Sigourney Weaver.
Noel was selected by Stephen Jones and the British Fashion Council to be a part of the Headonism initiative at London Fashion Week. This unique initiative which championed the new wave of British Milliners highlighted London as the heart of global millinery.
With his in-depth understanding of the industry and unique ability to create contemporary headwear, Noel was appointed Creative Director of Christy’s Hats in 2013. He elevated the quality and transformed this 246 year old hat makers by making the collections and visual output relevant and exciting.
Named Accessory Designer of the Year 2015 by UKFT, Noel was also a finalist for Design of the Year at The Design Museum, for his iconic JW Anderson hat. The Design Museum also selected Noel’s Ribboned Cityscape Hat to feature in the book - 50 Hats That Changed the World. His work also had an important role in the V&A’s exhibition ‘Stephen Jones – An Anthology of Hats’ which opened to record visitors in London and Brisbane before going on to open at the Bard Graduate Centre in New York.
Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne collaborated with Noel on 2017’s blockbuster, Murder on the Orient Express for which he created hats and headpieces for Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Lucy Boynton and Olivia Coleman. He also created headwear for Saoirse Ronan in Mary Queen of Scots and Felicity Jones in Aeoronoughts and most recently bonnets for Autumn de Wildes adaption of Jane Austens Emma
For the cover of the May 2018 issue of Vogue UK, Cara Delevingne wore a Noel Stewart hat to celebrate the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In October of the same year The Duchess of Sussex wore a Noel Stewart for Givenchy hat for the wedding of Princess Eugenie and also to attend the remembrance day service in November and again for the Queen’s birthday in June 2019.
For the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Gala 2019 ‘Notes on Camp’ Noel worked with Oscar de la Renta to create the headpiece for Celine Dion’s arrival outfit. In September 2019 Noel was included in The Business of Fashions 500, the definitive professional index of the people shaping the fashion industry today. Noel is the second milliner to have been included on this prestigious industry index.
Most recently Noel worked with Felipe Oliveira Baptista on his re-launch of Kenzo and Clare Waight Keller on her last two Haute Couture collections and her final ready to wear collection for Givenchy creating the giant insta-memed floral lace hat for Kaia Gerbers finale look.