The world of British millinery and hat making is constantly evolving thanks to the influence of many wonderful teachers, designers, makers, and companies that are no longer with us. Their skills, passion and vision live on through their many former students, collaborators and customers. We acknowledge those who have impacted our careers. Very sadly, our first Past Master was one of our own members, Alva Wilson.
Shirley Hex
1941-2024
Shirley Hex was a fundamental contributor to the millinery industry for many years. She worked with renowned couture houses and as a lecturer at the Royal College of Art.
In 1976, she was the head of the millinery department at the prestigious couture house Lachasse when she took under her wing a young Stephen Jones, just starting out his journey in the hat industry. She then moved on to become the Chief Milliner for Frederick Fox.
She was a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, teaching many famous milliners like Philip Tracy and Ian Bennett, while still making hats for HM Queen Elizabeth ll.
In 2012, she was involved in the visually spectacular event HATWALK, commissioned by the Mayor of London, in partnership with BT, Grazia magazine, The British Fashion Council and the London 2012 Festival. Trafalgar Square’s most famous resident, Admiral Lord Nelson, was given a new hat for the first time in 200 years. The project was curated by two of her most illustrious ex-students, Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy. She was also asked to create a hat to adorn the statue of George Ehrlich’s The Young Lovers, near St. Paul's Cathedral.
“We’re British - hats are just what we do!
Choosing the right hat is important for the person wearing it, but it’s also important for a designer. The right hat can make a career.
I didn’t work for quite some time after Diana’s wedding...It nearly killed me!”
“I would never call her Shirley I always called her Mrs. Hex. She was always there ten minutes before work started in the morning, and you always had to be immaculately dressed and all of that. I was slightly terrified of her, and she was a real prankster. After the first day, she turned to me with an arched eyebrow and she said, “Stephen, if your hands moved as fast as your mouth does the hat would been made by now.” I did not say another thing for a month! It completely freaked me out.”
Another memory from Stephen Jones, as published on Wikipedia:
“Although he enjoyed being taught by Peter Lewis Crown, the designer-owner of the London couture house Lachasse, he had little prior sewing experience, and so in order to develop his skills Crown secured Jones a summer placement in Lachasse's tailoring workroom. Jones soon requested a transfer to the next-door millinery department presided over by Shirley Hex but was told he had to make a hat from scratch first. The hat he eventually submitted, his first original millinery creation, was a cardboard pillbox covered in blue crêpe de Chine and trimmed with a plastic iris, sprayed silver that his mother had received as a free gift from a petrol station in the 1960s. In his innocence, Jones had not realised that millinery flowers were traditionally made of silk, but Hex approved the hat, commenting on the flower's modernity. Between 1976 and 1979 Jones spent his summer breaks working for Hex and learning about millinery methods and techniques”
The list of well known and successful ex-pupils continues, with names like Misa Harada.
