STEPHEN JONES' HAT HISTORY IN NEW YORK

Kate Middleton’s penchant for feathery fascinators and off-kilter brims has caused a fuss in the fashion world, which has credited the new bride with a contemporary hat revival. Fittingly then, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is sending its exhibition on the accessory’s history, “Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones,” to New York City’s Bard Graduate Center, Sept. 15, 2011-Apr. 15, 2012.

Via no less than 250 hats, Jones, a British milliner who has designed for Comme des Garçons and Marc Jacobs, has curated an expansive history that includes motorcycle helmets, berets and celebrity hats, alongside couture pieces from landmark designers like Chanel, Mitza Bricard for Christian Dior, Philip Treacy and Mr. John.

The exhibition, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors in the U.K., is broken up into sections based on the millinery process: inspiration, creation, the salon and the client. A few additions will be made especially for the U.S. incarnation, such as Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth inauguration top hot, Babe Ruth’s baseball cap and samples from contemporary New York designers Ellen Christine, Rod Keenan, Eugenia Kim, Lola, Albertus Swanepoel, Jennifer Ouellette and Patricia Underwood.

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