Learn how Stephanie Munro turned her lifelong love for hats into a vibrant and exciting profession, blending traditional and modern design in her creative journey. Photo @richshawphoto
What sparked your interest in Millinery?
As a teenager, many years ago, I had always been in love with hats and would have
loved to have learnt the trade. Unfortunately in Western Australia there wasn’t anywhere to learn, moving to Melbourne or Sydney was not an option, so I put this passion on hold for the next 35 years. I then discovered Hat Academy and enrolled in some online millinery courses, I was hooked!
How would you describe your design?
I would describe my designs as being a mixture of old and new. I like playing with traditional shapes but using new age materials.
What inspires you?
Inspiration comes from so many places, often I will just be sitting in my studio and a colour will catch my eye and off I go. I also like to look at other forms of crafts and see how those techniques could be incorporated into my millinery. Of course, nature is the biggest inspiration of all. Who could not get inspired by the many flowers and leaves.
What is your favourite material to work with?
My favourite material is always the one I am currently working on haha. I do love leather and its’s ability to be dyed , cut and manipulated in so many ways. Shoutout to Cherryl McIntyre whose leather flower courses on Hat Academy are amazing and oh so addictive.
How do you go from an idea to a finished hat?
I am not much of a sketcher and rarely do designs this way. I like to start with an idea in my head and organically let the design evolve. Of course this is not always possible if a client has very specific ideas. In this case I do love a mood board and generally get clients to send me photos for inspiration. I print this off and have it in front of me as I design so I can check colours and form.
What is the most important tool in your studio?
I agonized over this question as there are so many tools that are super helpful when making millinery but I decided that my needles and my wonder clips are two items that are constantly on my workbench, scattered everywhere.
Fashion On The Field clients.
What has been a challenge you have faced in millinery?
I would say the biggest obstacle for me has been getting over the fear of calling myself a Milliner. As I have previously mentioned, I do not have any formal training apart from watching endless hours of tutorials and then just putting that knowledge into practice, sometimes it works, and sometimes you end up in tears… haha. Having had clients win FOTF competitions, the beautiful comments from those clients, certainly has given me the confidence to stand proud and go you know what I am a Milliner.
Wearable Art competition entries.
What are you other passions?
I initially started my Millinery journey by entering some Wearable Art Competitions and absolutely loved this creative outlet. I was lucky enough to win both competitions but soon realized, it was the headwear component of the design I enjoyed the most. I love that there are basically no rules with Millinery, if you can make it and the client can wear it, you have yourself a hat. Prior to my creative passions which have definitely come later in life, I was a Muay Thai Kickboxing instructor for 15 years, so I bring that aggression into bending the wire these days… haha.
Famous words to live by?
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have” - Maya Angelou
» More from Stephanie Munro