AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Recognising individuality and celebrating diversity is taking Maison Michel forward. Its Artistic Director PRISCILLA ROYER chats with Jacquie Ang on travelling with hats, her different approaches to her role and upcoming offerings.
Priscilla Royer has only one tip on choosing hats: “Take as many as you want. Go in front of the mirror. Try the hats as quickly as you can and once you stop laughing, you’ll see that you’ve found something that fits.”
The artistic director of Maison Michel is in Singapore as part of a press tour encompassing Hong Kong and Beijing, hosted by On Pedder. Singapore is the first stop and it is Royer’s first visit to the city. “I want to try local food. That’s super important for me – I get a ‘flavour’ of the city. And then I want to do the big tree thing,” she enthuses, alluding to the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay. “Don’t laugh, don’t laugh... I don’t know Singapore!”
Hopefully, Royer gets better acquainted with the city’s landmarks, but Maison Michel is no stranger to Singapore’s sophisticates. Bestsellers include the Jamie cap with ears and the Virginie fedora. “And straw hats, because of Singapore’s tropical weather,” she adds.
While some hats, such as the ones made of felt or fragile straw, need the protection of boxes, the boyish New Abby cap is small and easy to travel with. Panama hats, too, are sturdy enough to pack in your bag. “The more you wear it, the more supple it becomes, and the easier it is to stash it in your hand luggage without squashing it in your suitcase,” Royer says. “Hats can’t stay brand new forever. It gets blown away, you sit on it... so you have to wear your hats. Using it makes it a good hat because it becomes your own hat. If not, it’ll just stay as an object of art you’re scared to touch.”
Otherwise, look forward to the Hat On The Go collection, which debuts with two practical yet versatile models: the classic Charles fedora and the Teresa explorer hat with central ribbing. Made of naturally white Japanese straw, both come equipped with wide brims to shade faces from the sun. These travel-friendly toppers are so soft and flexible, you can fearlessly roll them and slip them under a belt or into a back pocket. They unfold in seconds with nary a crease.
It is a clever approach to traditional millinery that harnesses time‑honoured know‑how while bearing modern wearability in mind, in turn ensuring the historic 83‑year‑old house’s relevancy as it takes hats away from the preserve of formal attire.
A HEAD START
Chanel’s recent Egyptian‑inspired Métiers d’art 2018/2019 Paris‑new York collection featured boaters with a folded‑back brim. As with every other presentation with headwear, the hats in golden leather were made by Maison Michel.
The partnership goes back 22 years, when Chanel’s dedication to preserve legacies of specialised savoir faire led the fashion house to acquire and incorporate Maison Michel into its Métiers d’art stable of speciality ateliers.
In 2015, Chanel offered Royer artistic directorship of the heritage house. “The first thing I did was cut the Virginie in three. I reassembled it with different embellishments,” she recalls. “I guess I had to go through a whole process of destroying a little bit just to make it my own.”
Tasked to reimagine the millinery atelier, she redefined the Maison Michel consumer, expanding the focus from women to personalities, encompassing a coed cast of different ages and backgrounds. She believes that hats are about creating your own character and knowing how to style it, an idea that could be attributed to her family. “I have four sisters, each with their own distinct personality,” she shares. “It’s important to respect that.”
The approach gives her more freedom to design. “I try to cover as many archetypes as possible because it’s a mono‑product brand. We just focus on the head, so we can be more playful because we don’t have to deal with body morphology. Its small size makes it enjoyable for me to work on.”
A Studio Berçot and Central Saint Martins graduate, Royer led the creative direction at Vivienne Westwood Red Label and co‑founded her lauded fashion label Pièce d’ anarchive with her sister. But she disagrees that the lack of formal millinery training is a shortcoming. “The artisans know everything there is to know about hats. It’s like leaning on a big tree. I only need to ask and we’ll discuss how they can support my ideas, with the appropriate sense of modernity.”
Maison Michel has been spotted on celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Emma Watson and the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. “It’s not surprising to see who wears it; it’s more interesting to find out what they chose,” says Royer. “I thought Spike Lee would pick a cap, but he went for a beret.” (Lee completed his purple suit with the New Bonnie beret for the 2019 Golden Globe Awards.)
Collaborating with Chanel and other brands means that Royer has to juggle two mindsets. “You have to put your ego in your pocket because here, you’re the manufacturer. You’re giving them advice on how to accomplish their ideas,” she reasons. Headwear is usually conceptualised later because the hat has to complement the silhouette. “They come to me with the designs, and I suggest materials and techniques. Depending on the complexity, it usually takes two to three weeks to produce the headwear for a Chanel show.”
UNRAVEL THE ENIGMA
Maison Michel’s exclusive soirée at Pedder On Scotts offered a glimpse of the Cruise 2019 offerings, a precursor to the Spring/summer 2019’s Sunken Cities collection.
The starting point came from the 3D‑animated documentary Les Abysses: Le Mystère des Créatures Lumineuses and German naturalist‑artist Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of sea life. “I found this pop‑up book about his work,” Royer shares. “The collection is based on the idea of three levels of the sea. At the top level, you can see the sun and the light’s reflection on the water, so there are colours of beige, gold and light blue. Down the next level, you see the corals and fishes, so that’s what the neon colours allude to. Deeper down is an abyss. It’s very dark so you can’t see much, but the water endows shine, so there are sequins big and small.” Speaking of mysteries, what is the secret of Maison Michel? “The secret lies in the hands of the artisans, who know how to achieve the right balance. Maison Michel has people for everything – there are artisans who make and there’s me to design, and together, it’s a good synergy.”