Statement hats are the surprising fashion trend taking over this season’s runways
From Audrey Hepburn to Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw and the Aussie Melbourne Cup, this theatrical statement piece has always held its place in on-screen popular culture. Find out why it’s now taking off with everyday wearers.
When Francesco Risso sent models down the spring/summer ’25 runway, a beguiling, theatrical mood took hold. It wasn’t the pencilled-on exaggerated eyebrows, the wiggle skirts or the opera coats, but an unexpected accessory taking surprising command of late: the dramatic hat. Securing their perch as the apogee of accessories, Risso’s creations came as exaggerated sailor hats in origami-like gargantuan paper sou’westers and a tilting Audrey Hepburn topper with sweeping brim.
Elsewhere, Alessandro Michele – fashion’s accoutre-er in chief – adorned sun hats with elegant pheasant feathers, transforming them into supersized aigrettes for Valentino. Chloé and Conner Ives resurrected subversive takes on the pillbox, while at Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s debut for Jean Paul Gaultier’s spring ’25 haute couture, a frayed, skeletal ghost ship sailed onto the runway atop a model’s head. Meanwhile, Colleen Allen is making a name for herself with her elevated take on the beanie.
New Zealand designer Rory William Docherty always adds a topper to his seasonal line-up – of late a conical black felt hat that is quietly, elegantly offbeat. “There is something nice about bookending a look with a hat,” he says. Similarly, emerging talent Amy Lawrence, who is inspired by the 1920s, has become as much known for her starched raw silk caps, tied under the chin, as her clothing. She wonders if the pandemic’s dulling effect on style is still pushing us towards, “clothing items that are slightly more expressive and theatrical”.
Millinery legend Stephen Jones feels the same. “I think in fashion now, people have had enough of garments being mere clothing and realise that actually they can be dressing up,” he says. “I think people have remembered clothing can be an adventure as opposed to rigorous practicality.”
Kay Barron, Net-A-Porter’s fashion director, believes the current swing towards statement headpieces is a celebration of individuality. “It is no surprise that the hat has returned to literally top it off,” she says. “Hats serve as a canvas for personal expression.”
While the mood boards of emerging fashion scholars and students feature Vivienne Westwood’s pirate hats, John Galliano’s swaggering millinery for Dior (with the aid of Jones) and Maison Margiela, more subdued headwear, say contemporary milliners, can work in the everyday. Mariela Alexandra, of New York-based Mains de Vapeur, produces fresh takes on vintage styles and in her work uses antique wood hat blocks. She suggests a hat spans style occasions beyond race day or weddings. “What I find exciting is how hats are now being seamlessly integrated into casual, everyday outfits,” she says. “I encourage women to experiment by trying on a variety of hats to discover which shapes and colours complement their unique features.”
Jones, too, is a proponent of wearing them everywhere – just choose a style to match the occasion, he advises. “Wear the hat that is most appropriate with what you are doing,” he says. “For example, if you are running around town having a bad hair day, wear a beret, as you will always look chic and will have that French je ne sais quois.” Having designed countless pieces to accompany clothing, he argues for their unique power as a statement piece. “A theatrical hat is the outfit,” he says. “[They] can be small as well as big. Sometimes a whisper is as effective as a shout.”
This story is from the April issue of Vogue Australia. On sale now.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout