In the coming days, an exhibition truly worth taking your hat off to will open to the public. For the first time in over forty years, the Palais Galliera is dedicating an entire exhibition to an accessory: the hat, elevated to the rank of a work of art. Stephen Jones shows us his career spanning 40 years, being a creative, designer, and why not, a dreamer. He redefines how the accessory integrates into haute couture design and opens a world of endless possibilities.
Born in Liverpool in 1957, he trained at Saint Martin’s School of Art and by 1980, he was already presenting two hat collections per year. This led him to explore the world of music, especially through Boy George, where Stephen Jones took his first steps into fashion. He collaborates with haute couture and gradually forges strong ties with major fashion houses and designers such as Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Comme des Garçons, Walter Van Beirendonck, Louis Vuitton, among others. His work invites us to question the function of the hat, making each creation an extension of personality and essence. This brings us to a very interesting thought: “Bodies become more and more interesting from the neck down, just as arms become more interesting when the sleeve ends. They are the points of communication of the body.” – Galliano – These points of connection and axes of movement are crowned by ideas, imagination, and stories—something Stephen manages to represent in each of his creations: evoking small worlds.
Small, moving worlds that highlight his close relationship with Paris since the beginning of his career and the London “New Romantics” movement, which has been his personal signature for years. Paying homage to Parisian Couture, complemented with creativity, he developed a fascination for how people’s faces light up when they wear a hat. This vision encompasses more than just an accessory or a fashion complement; it is about the face and the effect it has on those who wear it. We can see this effect clearly represented when Princess Diana of Wales or the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge wear his creations, as well as music icons like Rihanna, Madonna, or the Rolling Stones, and great designers such as John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Thierry Mugler, to name a few.
The Palais Galliera opens its doors to showcase Jones’s works and to question how we invest our imagination and thoughts, visualizing universes that emerge from our minds and translating them not just into accessories, but into works of art. This vision has conquered the fashion world from 1980 to the present, and this is the perfect opportunity to see his finest works in person and witness the details that construct each of these worlds.
I have always tried to bring the ideas from my mind to the outside, but what if those ideas evolved within my mind? They could adapt and grow in their own environment, having a blank canvas and being ready to grow on their own, fueled by a purpose. A strong message, now more than ever, reflects who we are and how we see the world. If Stephen Jones brings his world to life in each of his creations, I would definitely want to live there.
