Meet Kelly Hill, a talented milliner whose passion for feathers, artistic roots, and creative process inspire truly unique designs.
What sparked your interest in Millinery?
I was originally asked to make a piece of Millinery for my sister to attend a wedding. As a painter I was already very interested in art and found Millinery to be an excellent substitute for sculpture. My love grew from there.
How would you describe your design?
My millinery generally includes clean lines and features feathers in some form. I like simplicity in the design and aim to have a flawless finish to my work.
What is your favorite material to work with?
Feathers, their versatility is unmatched. The ability to cut, colour, curl, crimp etc and the variety that they come in just brings me joy. I also love that they are lightweight, which I think is important as a heavy hat is not a joy to wear.
How do you go from an idea to a finished hat?
Not in a straight line that's for sure. Sometimes I start with a sketch, especially when working with a client that needs a visual. For the clients that trust what I do, the millinery organically builds from an idea in my head and can go various ways depending on how the materials work in with the design. Sometimes things don't go to plan and I may spend hours either looking at a piece, working through the design in my head (while working on something else) or I will leave it alone for days until the solution comes to me, normally while I should be sleeping.
I think the problem solving is what I love most about millinery, especially when you are working with modern materials that may not be as easy to manipulate like traditional straws and felts.
What is the most important tool in your studio?
My hands first, then my scissors, needle and thread, even without the fancy blocks and tools I can still make something fabulous.
What has been the favourite millinery style this season?
About 90% of my millinery is made to order and my wonderful clients have a well developed sense of style, each of them is very different and I find myself creating for the person and not necessarily the trends. More than anything colour is the largest variable from season to season and I am loving that bright colours are still extremely popular.
What has been a challenge you have faced in millinery?
My main challenge has been balancing the hours needed to create millinery with my day job. I have been very lucky to find an extremely flexible job where I can choose my hours, it means I can spend hours each racing season making hats, rather than working a 9-5 office or retail job. I am very fortunate, to have a "day" job I love and my millinery.
What are you other passions?
Real Estate, which is my day job and animals. I love all kinds of pets and currently have 2 cats, Lewis and Waverley who love my millinery room as much as I do. Previously I had 2 dogs, they also used to spend all of their time with me while I was creating.
Famous words to live by?
Say yes, then figure it out later.
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