Kensington and Chelsea College (KCC) and the luxury watch brand Longines are collaborating to give Millinery students an opportunity to make a bespoke hat which will be featured at Royal Ascot.
Students were briefed about creating a hat for model and friend of the Longines brand, Rosie Tapner, who will attend Ascot as a guest wearing the students’ hat that she selects. She’ll also be presenting for Ascot TV and World Horse Racing which will give great exposure to the successful student.
Rachel Trevor-Morgan, a successful milliner who has been advising on this project said, “I feel that inviting students to create a hat for a specific client to wear at Royal Ascot will give them Millinery experience in the real world and the clients they will have when they graduate.”
The collection of hats will be displayed in the Longines private box at Royal Ascot and posted on Longines social media.
Students’ handiwork displayed in luxury department store Fenwick
Millinery students at KCC made a range of summer occasion
hats with the Fenwick customer in mind. Angela Basten, a buyer from the Bond Street store chose 9 hats. All of the hats chosen were made by past and present KCC students:Rafael Peinador, Katherine Hearn, Olivia Johnson Hilton, Lily Thompson, Julie Communier and Johanna Wӓstle.
Olivia Johnson Hilton, one of the students involved said, “To get close to these sorts of opportunities in this industry is incredibly tough, so to have this brought to you as a student, it’s a real privilege.”
The hats are on display in store now.
Industry experts highlight work from KCC competition winner Olivia Johnson Hilton, a HNC Millinery student won the Feltmakers competition. The competition required entrants to design a hat that could be manufactured in a factory or workroom and suitable for commercial sale.
Olivia’s hat went on to be displayed in an exhibition curated by top milliners in the industry; Rachel Trevor Morgan, Edwina Ibbotson and Noel Stewart.
Issued for & on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea College
