Milliner Stephen Jones displays hats worn by the stars over 40-year career
An imaginary royal banquet with a guest list featuring some of the world’s biggest celebrities – from the Duchess of Sussex to Lady Gaga – forms part of a new exhibition of famous hats.
The latest display by milliner to the stars Stephen Jones launches at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton on Thursday, and it also features hats worn by Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Mick Jagger.
Exhibiting work spanning his 40-year career, Stephen Jones Hats at the Royal Pavilion centres around a mock dinner party of A-list proportions in which stars are represented by the hats at the table in the banqueting room of King George IV’s 200-year-old seaside pleasure palace.
At a press preview on Wednesday, the 61-year-old designer told reporters he had to think long and hard about the seating plan to ensure the stars would get along.
As well as the white beret worn by Meghan at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March last year, visitors will see a large fuchsia headdress worn by Lady Gaga displayed at one head of the table.
A golden design sported by Kylie when she headlined the 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras is at the other end.
Jones hosts the make-believe feast in his grandfather’s 1920s top hat, also worn by his father at his wedding in 1946, and sits opposite a replica of a felt hat worn by King George IV as he posed for a portrait in 1782.
A replica of a 1980 creation for Diana, Princess of Wales – then Lady Diana Spencer – also features alongside a party hat for Rihanna and a Pearly King-inspired cap worn by designer John Galliano.
Designs for Princess Eugenie, Dame Joan Collins, Cindy Crawford and Missy Elliot, and the yellow hat worn by Amal Clooney for Harry and Meghan’s wedding last year, also feature.
A plume of white feathers sported by Boy George and a rabbit headdress worn by Kate Moss in 2014 are also on show.
Jones said: “Trying to name one favourite hat is a little like naming a favourite child, you’re not supposed to do that.
“But there are certain favourites. Probably the most notable hat in here has been very kindly lent by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. I’m very, very honoured to have that displayed.
“It was wonderful doing the table placement and seeing who would get on with who. In fact, it made me very nervous.
“The curator told me ‘Don’t worry Stephen, they’re hats not real people’. But in a funny way for me they are real people.”
He described Kylie, someone he has worked with since she came to Britain, as “such a professional”, adding: “The great thing about her, yes she is a client, but when I create a hat for her we really work on the same project together.
“She knows how it’s going to feel, she knows the pressure on the neck, she knows the choreography.”
Born in Cheshire before bursting on to the London fashion scene in the late 70s and soon attracting celebrity clientele, Jones said the exhibition feels “almost like a homecoming”.
He added: “I have never had the opportunity to display hats in the environment which inspired them.”
The display of some 160 pieces begins in the entrance hall with his collection Chinoiserie-on-Sea, which was inspired by Brighton and the opulent decor and glamorous history of the East Sussex landmark – the walls of which are adorned with Indian, Chinese and Regency-style interiors.
Past the banqueting hall, visitors can see where the food is prepared in the Great Kitchen, where they are greeted by a giant swan headdress and knitted English breakfast hat among copper pots in a nod to creations inspired by food.
In the music room they come across a gold bust of Jones and gowns designed by Dior.
He said everything from the paintings to the “party” atmosphere in the “extraordinary” Pavilion inspired him, adding: “For me the Pavilion is about extravagance, freedom about the unknown.
“I think this is the most impressive building in Britain.”
Martin Pel, costume and textiles curator at the museum, said it is one of the first fashion exhibitions hosted by the now council-owned former royal residence, adding: “Stephen’s craftmanship absolutely works in here. It looks beautiful, it’s perfectly made, it’s a perfect match.”
Jones is set to design a spring 2019 collection inspired by the exhibition for Harvey Nichols, which financed the project.
