Stephen jones milliner biography

Since the early 80s Stephen Jones has collaborated with designers from Vivienne Westwood and Claude Montana through to his current work with Thom Browne and Christian Dior, Jones' hats have been an integral component in some of the most memorable runway spectacles of the past quarter century.

Today, Jones' retail boutique, design studio and workroom are all located in a charming Georgian townhouse close to the site of his very first millinery salon. In addition to his Model Millinery collection, he designs the widely-distributed Miss Jones and JonesBoy diffusion ranges. 

In at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, he curated the hugely popular exhibition 'Hats, an Anthology by Stephen Jones', breaking attendance records around the world. In addition his hats are also collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.

Now, as ever, at the forefront of fashion, his beguiling hats routinely grace the most celebrated magazine covers and enliven window displays of the world's most stylish stores. From runways to race-courses, from pop-promos to royal garden parties, millinery by Stephen Jones adds the exclamation mark to every fashion statement.

So what are the moments Jones OBE (for services to the fashion industry) remember most fondly from his career to date, and how does one celebrate such a milestone? We met at his atelier in London’s Covent Garden to find out.

What is it about making hats that, 40 years on, never fails to fascinate you?

“I make hats but it's people's appearance that I find so fascinating, and how a hat can be transformative. It's really about the person and how they feel when they put things on, seeing their face light up. I studied fashion at Central St Martins, not millinery, which is why I work with fashion designers so often. I remember asking John Galliano why he was so interested in hats once and he said: ‘That’s a funny question coming from you. It's at the neckline that the body becomes really interesting. Just like at the end of the sleeve that the arm becomes very interesting. These are the body’s points of communication.’

“When I draw a hat, I always draw the backbone and the face first, so many milliners just think about the hat, but it’s the line of the back, the line of the body and the line of the shoulder that make the hat sing on the body.”

And people’s mannerisms completely change too when they put on a hat…

“Yes, I always tell people to rehearse before they go out in the street – how they want to look, how the hat feels on their head. Very important.”

Are there any hats from the tens of thousands you remember making most vividly?

“I think the hat that was most difficult to make was the one Erin O'Connor wore for the Christian Dior [Spring ] Egyptian collection. I fitted the cardboard [model] to her, but the hat was only ready two hours before the show and she was the opening look. The hat (and fake beard) was made from very fine plastic plated with metal, which made it very heavy.”

Stephen Jones, the milliner of celebrities and great fashion houses 

Besides their exceptional artistry, what do the designers Jean-Paul Gaultier, Rei Kawakubo, Kim Jones, Raf Simons, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Marc Jacobs have in common? The answer is Stephen Jones. For the past 40 years, this English dandy has excelled at making hats, to the point where all the big fashion houses, not to mention the young designers, seek out the services of this great milliner, who also has his own label. “I’ve known Stephen for a very long time,” confides Kim Jones, artistic director of the menswear collections at Dior. “When I was a teenager [in the s], he was one of my idols. Our collaboration began when I arrived at Dior, and I respect him enormously.” 

A past master at exalting the evocative power of an accessory that is today considered secondary, Stephen Jones will lavish as much care on a simple leather beret, like the one he made for Dior’s autumn/winter –18 runway show, which was afterwards worn by Rihanna, as on a spectacular headdress in black feathers for the spring/summer Louis Vuitton show, the last under Marc Jacobs.

The hats of Stephen Jones between simplicity and extravaganza 

 “A true visionary, Stephen is able to dream up memorable creations. Even when they’re simple, everyday kind of hats, they’re unique,” explains Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of womenswear at Dior. “I also remember my first Dior haute couture collection [spring/summer ],

Stephen Jones is a leading British milliner, born in Graduating from Central Saint Martins in , Jones started his millinery career by making hats for friends. Pop music and clubbing had an enormous influence on Jones. He made hats for Boy George, Spandau Ballet and Grace Jones and, by , was sufficiently established to open his own shop. As his reputation and clientele steadily grew, he was invited to represent Britain in fashion shows in New York, Montreal, Helsinki and Tokyo.

In addition to his Model Millinery collection, he designs the widely-distributed Miss Jones and JonesBoy diffusion ranges. In , he became the first British milliner to work in Paris, designing hats for Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and COMME des GARÇONS, whilst more recent associations include Marc Jacobs and Giles Deacon. Some of his most celebrated millinery is with John Galliano for his eponymous label and, in particular, their creations during Galliano's tenure at Christian Dior.

In , he was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards, also launching a unique collaborative fragrance with Comme des Garçons the same year. Jones' hats are in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Kyoto Costume Institute. Jones co-curated the exhibition Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones at the V&A in

His work was shown at Brighton’s Royal Pavilion in in an exhibition entitled Stephen Jones Hats at the Royal Pavilion.