Artist
Sahar Freemantle – Millinery
Millinery is a wonderful delight of old and new simultaneously – when excellent craftsmanship merges with playful curiosity, what emerges is a fresh embodiment of British eccentricity.
Millinery is a wonderful delight of old and new simultaneously – when excellent craftsmanship merges with playful curiosity, what emerges is a fresh embodiment of British eccentricity. It is steeped in British tradition, and yet, even whilst using entirely traditional methods and materials, a hat can be so wild that graces front covers and becomes a common talking point for weeks. In my millinery practice, I aim to invigorate traditional methods and use traditional materials, but inject my own stamp by making up new methods, and experimenting with new or unconventional materials. I believe when excellent craftsmanship merges with playful curiosity, what emerges is a fresh embodiment of British eccentricity.
The races, particularly Royal Ascot, are a wonderful avenue to explore this. I love making a hat which is on paper, traditional (in it’s making and materials), but so wild in it’s design that it’s unlike anything you have ever seen before. When I teach millinery, my method is to teach the traditional ways first, then allow and encourage experimentation in my students later in the term. I also like to mix traditional British crafts, such as taxidermy with millinery – the fusion of two traditions creates something new. Bringing taxidermy alone into millinery is nothing new – (very common in Victorian times). But, I chose to use insects in my work. I have come up with my own unique method of using real butterflies (all died naturally) and through many tests I have found away to preserve and strengthen them – these hats have lasted for years, and even travelled across the globe. Another lost craft is the crocheted veiling – nowadays veiling is of ok standard, but it’s all mass manufactured. I once worked with a crocheter to create our own veiling – out of my own hair. Certainly not one to be mass-produced, but an interesting craft experiment!
The design of each hat needs to be flattering to the wearer, and in keeping with their personality as well as on-brand for Sahar Millinery. I have a wide range of designs – it is important for my branding to have the ‘edgy’ looks, but important for business to have the toned-down looks too. When the client has the right hat for them, they will stand tall and glow with confidence. Sahar Millinery hats are seductive and fun, elusive and inviting. I have frequently been told that my hats are like ‘works of art’ – I think I achieve this through having a part of the hat which is detailed and worked on with my hands, such as carved feathers or gold leaf, worked on to a perfect point of distress.
Many milliners do similar shapes, but the detail can set apart a store-bought from handmade. It is very important that the hat is comfortable – there is nothing so inelegant as a lady fiddling with her outfit because it is ill-fitting or uncomfortable. I want my clients to wear my hats all day and night, so lightness is key, and a good fit around the head. I have learnt how to create large sculptural pieces, but keep it lightweight, with minimal wirework and by using light materials such as feathers. I also work with Boon and Lane (the best hat block makers in the UK) to create shapes that are flattering and touch the head in all the right places to make it comfortable. I source good quality materials, and have structures in place in my workplace to ensure each hat get the necessary allocated making time, so I am not rushing. Materials: For my winter hats I use rabbit fur felt made in either Germany or Czech republic, which are the known top places for this. Rabbit Fur felt is higher quality than wool felt (softer, warmer, more lux). In the summer the hats I sell are Panama hats. This is less hands-on making for me, but I work with women in Ecuador who hand weave the straw, it’s a wonderful cross-global collaboration!
A good practice of traditional millinery is my springboard from which I dive into an arena of playfulness; exploring a vast ocean of ideas, creating new techniques, making happy accidents, experimenting with materials, basking in failures, dancing with new designs, and flowing in freedom and fun. Upholding both the traditional side as well as creating newness is very important to me. Traditional methods have survived because they work – if an object is made well, it wears well, and has a good life span – ideally lasting generations.
I’m slowly going through all the niches within millinery to learn the craft of old and new materials and methods, such as working with feathers, making flowers using traditional tools, blocking a whole range of materials on traditional hat blocks, and hand sewing trimmings, to name a few. Continued professional development is very important – My method is: as I create new pieces where I stumble or try a new material and uncover gaps in my knowledge, I try to work it out myself, and only after really experimenting and thinking outside the box for solutions, then reach out to master milliners to ask. This way I am giving myself the opportunity to think and create new ways of doing things, and also learning the traditional ‘known’ ways and can choose how to go forward. I love making mistakes, and occasionally having restrictions can be a blessing. For example, I use gold leaf in my hats – something which I learnt from a framer. I apply traditionally using Japanese Gold Size. However, one day I was out of gold size and so I used fusing and an iron. I burnt the gold leaf. As well as making a terrible smell, it made an array of gorgeous colours and patterns of blues and purples on the gold leaf. The result was glorious!
Sahar Freemantle
Votes - 32 %
