‘A hat is an alibi, a fabulous lie’: radical milliner Stephen Jones on his career-spanning new Paris exhibition

A complete retrospective of Stephen Jones’ oeuvre would be practically impossible, given that the British milliner has created ‘approximately 100,000 hats’ in his 45-year career since graduating from London’s Central St Martin’s in 1979.

So for Miren Arzalluz, director of Paris’ Palais Galliera – where an expansive new exhibition of Jones’ work is currently taking place – it was important to hone in on one part of the milliner’s oeuvre. She proposed focusing on his close ties with Paris, French culture and Parisian couture; while Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo chose the title, ‘Stephen Jones, Chapeaux d’Artiste’, Jones being the artiste in question. This is the fashion museum’s first exhibition devoted to an accessory in 40 years.

It is a fitting theme: Jones is so in love with Paris that he claims he kisses the platform at the Gare du Nord on alighting the Eurostar. Growing up by the grey sea at West Kirby, Merseyside, Paris was ‘a technicolour dream, the exact opposite of my childhood’. (Too long in Paris, though, he begins pining for London again.)

‘Stephen Jones, Chapeaux d’Artiste’ at Paris’ Palais Galliera

When we meet, he is wearing a black Basque beret, rakishly tilted over one eye. ‘I love wearing a beret, it's the simplest of hats, the equivalent of a T-shirt,’ he says. ‘It’s so easy to travel with, it can be rolled up and placed in a suitcase.’

The exhibition is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the hat, presented behind glass as a work of art, together with some of Jones’ archival sketches, photographs and film footage. The second presents complete looks from his key collaborations with Parisian designers, his hats punctuating the looks like the dot on an ‘i’.

The theme is encapsulated, he says, by Rose Royce, a silk swirl of deep rose astride a black top hat; British eccentricity and wit meets insouciant Parisian chic. Rose Royce inspired the curving walls and light-and-dark shadow play of the second room, where the collaborations with French couturiers, like Jean Paul Gaultier, are on display.

Gaultier had first spotted Jones when he appeared as an extra in Culture Club’s Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? video wearing a vintage Zoot suit with a red velvet fez, before asking him to collaborate on an upcoming womenswear collection in the early 1980s. It would prove a life-changing meeting: afterwards, his career would be a tale of two cities, ping-ponging between his Covent Garden boutique and Paris.

The silhouettes continue with looks by Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, John Galliano’s own label (for his S/S 1994 Princess Lucretia collection, judged by many fashion commentators as one of contemporary fashion’s most influential collections), then for Givenchy, Walter Van Beirendonck, Louis Vuitton, Schiaparelli, Thom Browne and, of course, Christian Dior.

His collaboration with Christian Dior has been ongoing for over 28 years and counting. Dior is the only haute couture maison to have a haute mode atelier exclusively devoted to the creation of hats. Jones began his time at the house when John Galliano was artistic director, followed by Bill Gaytten, Raf Simons, Maria Grazia Chiuri and then Kim Jones for men. ‘If there’s a hat at Dior, I’ve had a finger in it,’ he smiles.

For the Paris Olympics, he created Lady Gaga’s black feather fascinator for the opening ceremony, and Yseult’s for the closing ceremony, which she wore to complete Maria Grazia Chiuri’s haute couture version of the New Look in black silk faille, both looks by Dior.

The list of major designers with whom he has worked is dizzying: Iris Van Herpen, Maison Margiela, Hussein Chalayan, Hermès, Balenciaga, Rochas, Marc Jacobs, Jil Sander and Dries Van Noten. Is there a designer he regrets not having worked with? ‘Issey Miyake,’ he said, sadly. The Japanese designer died in August 2022.

He has also designed hats for the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Céline Dion, Björk, Beyoncé and Rihanna. For the latter, he created the bishop’s mitre worn by the musician for the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination Met Gala in 2018. He was even featured on a Royal Mail stamp in 2001 with a portrait by Nick Knight.

As for the future of hats, he is optimistic. ‘A hat is an alibi, a fabulous lie. It’s about being the person you want to be, not the person you are. Sometimes, people say, “I haven’t got the confidence to wear a hat,” and I say, “The hat does that for you. It can make you confident if you’re not, assertive if you’re not, enigmatic if you’re not. You can put all that information into a hat. You can't put it into clothing because then it becomes a costume. A hat is transformational.’

‘Stephen Jones, Chapeaux d’Artiste’ is on at Paris’ Palais Galliera until 16 March 2025

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