Hatsville USA

Finest Couture hats, hand-made with an aesthetic of innovation. Original, daring and witty creations for Ascot, weddings, parties and picnics. Prices from £1000.

The AW15 millinery collection ‚Hatsville USA‘, is a tribute to Detroit; the home of the motor car and the birthplace of Miss Diana Ross. During a recent trip to lecture at MOCAD* with Hamish Bowles, Stephen realised his dream of visiting Hitsville USA, the famed studios of Motown Records. Growing up in sixties Liverpool, he was as step-perfect in the dance routines of the Temptations as he was dazzled by the glistening gowns of the Supremes. The grandson of an American car buff, Stephen has always been fascinated by form in motion even naming his SS‘84 collection ‚Car Sculpture‘. In the city he mesmerised by the Haute Couture archive of Mrs Firestone (of the tyre family), explored the derelict Packard car factory and marvelled at the Detroit Industry Murals, by Diego Rivera in the DIA**. The Model Millinery, Miss Jones and Jonesboy ranges explore these contradictions, from a workers cap fashioned from metal to the sparkle of a se- quinned cocktail hat: from graffiti to glamour.

*MOCAD Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

**DIA Detroit Institute of Arts