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For the third edition of ‘In Conversation: A Season of Talks’ with The British Hat Guild, London Hat Week will be going behind the scenes with five of Britain’s most talented theatrical milliners to talk about design briefs, turnaround times, secret supply stashes and surprise wigs as we explore the fascinating world of theatrical millinery.
Our illustrious panellists bring a huge list of millinery credits, including collaborations with top costume designers like Colleen Atwood, Sandy Powell, Jacqueline Durran, Michael O’Connor and Christopher Oram. Their work spans all genres of theatrical millinery, from blockbuster films to opera to theatre and ballet. They will be discussing working processes, research methods, making hats to survive the stage and the growing demand for milliners in this exciting field.
‘In Conversation’ sees London Hat Week and The British Hat Guild come together under the umbrella principles of education, inspiration, acknowledgment and celebration of the great British millinery tradition to bring you a series of online talks by members of The Guild, hosted and moderated by LHW. Join us online on 3 February 2022 for the third #BHGXLHW panel discussion.
Sean Barrett graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in 1982 and, after a brief stint at the Royal Festival Ballet, began a career as a milliner. Initially operating on the fringes of the fashion world, Sean’s work featured in both Vogue and Harpers & Queen. Since then, he has worked mostly in the entertainment industry for designers in theatre, film and television. Theatre highlights include My Fair Lady (Cam Mac), A Little Night Music, Anything Goes, Follies (National Theatre), Wicked, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Le Corsaire (ENB), Oliver! (Cam Mac) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Recent theatre work has included Lights In The Piazza (Royal Festival Hall), Anna Karenina (Joffrey Ballet, Chicago) and A Christmas Carol (West End & Broadway)
On screen, Sean has worked for designer Colleen Atwood on a number of award-winning movies including Sweeney Todd, Snow White and the Huntsman, Nine, Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass. For designer Sandy Powell he has worked on Interview With A Vampire, Shakespeare In Love, Mary Poppins Returns and The Favourite and for designer Alex Byrne Finding Neverland, Phantom of the Opera and Elizabeth and Elizabeth The Golden Age. Sean also created millinery for designer Consolata Boyle for Cheri with Michelle Pfeiffer and for designer Jacqueline Durran for Anna Karenina with Keira Knightly. On television, Sean has created pieces for Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth I and every series of Downton Abbey. He has also worked extensively on the series Mapp & Lucia, Decline and Fall, Gentleman Jack and The Crown.
Jane Smith started making hats for film and theatre in 1968 and works in felt, straw, buckram, fabrics, leather, wire frames, plastics and vac-form shapes. She also makes historical replica hats like bicorns, tricorns, top hats and helmets for museum displays and on-site features like Lord Nelson’s bicorn on his ship, HMS Victory.
Jane’s hats feature on stage in long-running productions like Warhorse, Lion King and Phantom of the Opera. Recent films include Little Women, Stan and Ollie, Darkest Hour, Ammonite, All is True, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Older films include Master and Commander and Kingdom of Heaven. She has also continued to work for legal companies making hats for Britain’s House of Lords and the Courts. After teaching for over twenty years, whilst not taking on new apprentices, Jane is keen to pass on her experiences of working with costume designers for film and theatre and their production needs in this discussion.
Sophie Lambe has a background in millinery, costume and sculpture. She has worked within a film costume dept on and off the past 25 years, enabling her to make the smooth transition to in-house milliner. Since 2015, Sophie has specialised in millinery for film and TV and is a member of both BAFTA and the British Hat Guild.
Sophie is currently working for costume designer Sandy Powell on Disney’s Snow White at Pinewood Studios. Over the past few years, she has had the opportunity to work with an array of prestigious international costume designers including Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts, Masters of the Air), Consolata Boyle (Victoria and Abdul, Enola Holmes 2), Mark Bridges (Phantom Thread), Alexandra Byrne (Emma, The Aeronauts), Sophie Canale (Bridgerton Season 2), Lindy Hemming (Paddington 2), Joanna Johnson (Allied, The Witches), Renee Erlich Kalfus (Last Christmas), Ellen Mirojinic (Maleficent 2, Bridgerton Season 1), Michael O’Connor (Ammonite), Sammy Sheldon (Assassins Creed, Artemis Fowl) and Annie Symons (King Arthur, The Terror).
Every production creates its own demands and challenges and Sophie enjoys the variety and pace of the work, whether it’s hats made of leather, silk turbans or velvet bonnets. The challenge is to realise the designer’s ideas, working with constraints and seeking the “perfect imperfection” that makes a piece of millinery work on screen and in HD.
Sally-Ann Provan is an award-winning milliner with a studio/showroom in Edinburgh. She creates distinctive contemporary millinery exploring form and surface pattern, using modern technologies and traditional techniques. After an Honours Degree in Jewellery, Sally trained in millinery under Rose Cory, Mitzi Lorenz, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Jane Smith. Her hats are worn by several members of the British Royal Family, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Katherine Jenkins, Charlotte Hawkins, Francesca Cumani, and are also featured in productions for the BBC, Netflix, and around 30 operas for Scottish Opera.
Sally-Ann has shown at London Fashion Week, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show (USA), Origin (London), Dressed to Kilt (New York), and UK Now (Melbourne). Her work is featured in four books, the National Museum of Scotland’s ‘Fashion and Style’ gallery and she is a V&A Dundee Design Champion. She also teaches part-time at Edinburgh College of Art.
Claire Strickland is a theatrical milliner based in London. After training in sculpting, design and fabrication for theatre and performance, Claire graduated from The London College of Fashion in 2007 and has been making hats and headdresses for stage and screen ever since. Claire also trained on a 5-year apprenticeship in the millinery workroom of Royal Warrant holders James Lock & Co Hatters. Established in 1676 and known as the oldest hat shop in the world, she developed skills in traditional couture millinery and bespoke dyeing with designer Sylvia Fletcher.
Claire has 15 years experience of working within a team to realise a costume designer’s vision. Her creations have been seen in Doctor Who, Bridget Jones’s Baby, Madame Tussauds, The Globe, English National Opera, London’s West End, the RSC and Secret Cinema. She also has extensive experience of making many hats for regional theatre Christmas and summer shows.
Claire has written articles for The HAT Magazine and interviewed over 20 stand holders to write the trade report on the Parisian international selling show Premiere Classe in 2015. She taught millinery as a visiting practitioner on the Costume Design and Interpretation degree at Wimbledon College of Art for several years and still loves to learn new skills. She is a self-confessed education addict!
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Thursday, 3 February 2022
Time: 7:30pm-9:15pm (GMT/London time)
Location: Online
This talk will be run as an online webinar. When you purchase a ticket, you will be sent a unique link to join. You will also get 7-day access to a recording of the talk after the event in case you can’t make the scheduled time.
Only one ticket can be purchased per email address. For multiple tickets, please buy tickets one at a time and enter a different email address for each person who will be attending.
