Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones—a collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Stephen Jones, the world’s foremost hat designer—is at the Bard Graduate Center (BGC) in New York City from September 15, 2011 to April 15, 2012. It is the first venue in this country. The exhibition displays more than 250 hats chosen with the expert eye of the master milliner.
From an Egyptian fez to a 1950s Balenciaga hat and couture creations, there is a wide range of styles including motorcycle helmets, turbans, berets, and a child’s plastic tiara. There also are Babe Ruth’s baseball cap, Mouseketeer ears, Estee Lauder’s turban, Halston bunnyears worn by Candace Bergen to Truman Capote’s Black & White Ball.
Stephen Jones spearheaded the fashionable revival of British millinery in the early 1980s. Using unusual materials and daring designs, his exquisitely crafted hats have pushed the boundaries of hat design forward for more than three decades.
The exhibition is divided into several sections that reveal the practice of creating hats, how they are worn, by whom, and how they are presented to the client.