Hat Design Research - Stephen Jones

The first hat designer I decided to look at was the famous Stephen Jones. His design career started in 1979 and he has collaborated which many fashion designers in the business such as John Galliano,Vivienne Westwood and Karl Lagerfeld to create hats to go along with their clothing collections. He has also designed for musicians such as Kylie Minogue and Marilyn Manson. As well as films such as 101 Dalmations, Thunderbirds, Atonement and Coco avant Chanel.

All hats are from his wesbite here and are taken from several collections in his career.

I like this first design. It wouldn't be ideal inspiration for my project as it doesn't cover much of the head so wouldn't be very practical for protecting someone's brain from aliens. But it is still an interesting design to consider adapting.

I really like the simplicity of this design. Apart from fixings underneath, its probably just a draped piece of felt fabric.

I think the dsign of this hat is really beautiful. The waves of fabric look so graphic and yet so natural. I will definately be considering this sort of styling when designing and making my hat.

I thought this design matched well with my project as it looks quite futuristic and features metal elements that would potentially 'deflect the aliens mind reading rays'. However, the minimal pill-box design would not be ideal for covering and protecting the whole of the head.

This design also really interested me. It's like a top hat at the front but then extends into an open-ended swirled design towards the back.

This hat is made from recycled LP records that have been melted and curved into interesting shapes. This is quite useful inspiration as it uses an outdated product as its main material. This could be a factor I would have to consider when designing and making a product in a post-apocalyptic world.

I like the shape and form of this hat alot. It is an adaptation of the cloche hat from the 1920-30's.

This design also interested me. It seems to be a modern interpretation of a trilby-type hat. The colours make it feel especially modern.

This headpiece made to look like a shattered mirror also really caught my eye. But wouldn't really be practical for everyday wear.

I like the futuristic styling of this hat and the bright neon yellow colour. The flat cap design would be a good basic shape to expand upon when I make my hat.

This design was probably my favourite of those I found on his website. It features three interpretations of the top hat, all combined into one hat. A small high stylized metallic top hat which is inside a metal net top hat of a more classic design which is in turn inside a very large and loosely tailored top hat made from a very soft transparent material. Its quite a simple concept but is done to great effect and obvious with alot of milinery skill.

In my opinion it has been really useful look at some of Stephen Jones's hat designs as it has been inspired me and expanded my design horizons. Although some of his designs are a little outrageous for everyday wear, I can tone them down a little. But I think  slightly crazy designs will help add to the popularity of the hats I make.