WHEEL ME OUT - Noel Stewart

Noel Stewart is a London-based milliner who finds inspiration in everything from Brutalist baptisteries to Modernist sporting glamour

His creations have added sparkle to stage costumes and catwalks and were recently featured in the V&A’s exhibition Hats, an Anthology by Stephen Jones. Wheel visited him in his studio to get the lowdown on a few of our favourites

Interview by Victoria Ford

What are the current trends? Casual rules really. Although having said that, in the last five years I’ve seen people wearing nice felt cloches in the winter, on the tube and things, and that impresses me. Cause when I started no one was wearing hats, never!

Recently I went to Bourgeois & Maurice, a neo-cabaret act at the Soho Theatre, and, sitting next to me was a woman wearing—I couldn’t quite believe it—a really cheap straw miniature top hat. I mean it was a rip-off of a Stephen Jones that’d been around for a few years, but it was a Monday night in Soho and it was kind of amazing. You don’t often see that.

Who wears your hats? It could be anyone, it’s not all high-end couture at all – you’d be surprised. In the last month I’ve sold hats to a lady for her niece’s wedding, I’m doing a veil for my cousin’s wedding, we’re making two top hats for Kylie [Minogue], a day hat for a man… we did one for Britney [Spears] not long ago and then we’ve also done the autumn/winter 09/10 collection.

Who’s your favourite milliner? Me! Seriously!

I like different things from different people to be honest. Philip [Treacy] is genius, Stephen [Jones] is genius, Nasir [Mazhar] is genius and there’s a Dutch woman called Irene Bussemaker, I think she’s genius in a certain way.

I don’t really have a favourite milliner but then I don’t really have a favourite anything. I think as a designer you need to be a little bit more fluid; otherwise you’re just stagnant.

How can you tell the difference between a cheap rip-off and an original? Quality. If you go to the high street you can buy a hat for 20 pounds and it’ll be glue-gunned. Although saying that, some of these things can be really beautiful and people love wearing them and in the end that’s what it’s about.

But that’s not what I’m about – throwaway design or fabrication; I think you’ve got to make something beautifully.

How do hats define London? If you think of all the images of London on postcards it’s busbies and beefeaters, policemen and military kinds of hats. The Queen always wears a hat, [they] used to be everywhere. There’s so much power in a hat, it’s the most powerful place to accessorise, on the head.

This is the Stained Glass Window hat. It references Coventry Cathedral. To the right of the main entrance is the baptistery window designed by John Piper, it’s these square blocks of stained glass and then concrete. It blew my mind.

We made the hat with acrylic squares which I hand-painted and then we interspersed it with beads. It’s not too heavy because it’s just thin plastic really. We closed the V&A’s Fashion In Motion show with it.

This is the Smashed Helmet Cocktail Hat. It’s a combination of acrylic, felt and a couture jacquard that I designed with Kirsty McDougall of Dashing Tweeds. It has a modernist feel but at the same time is soft and angular. We’ve combined shiny black plastic with a traditional felt hat. It’s got a visor but it’s not so sleek – it’s got a cracked edge.

We dyed it yellow to go with the [Modernist lux sport] theme. We took a contemporary [angle]: how Modernism might realise itself today with luxury, sportswise.

This beret is made of squares of vintage Petersham ribbon, which is a standard ribbon that we use for making hats (the French call it grosgrain ribbon) and it’s woven in such a way that it curves, so it’s perfect for head fittings.

This is a very wide one which is not made anymore. We sort of twisted it in the middle, creating a bit of volume to reference the ceiling of Coventry Cathedral by Basil Spence. It’s supposed to be light, but at the same time angular and soft. WMO

The latest collection and more from Noel

www.noelstewart.com