Designer Loren Wood, from Bristol, has been creating unique millinery for the past four years and his acute interest in zoology, ornithology and taxidermy inspires his collections which feature a range of zoological specimens.
This use of animals is not a new concept, as using real birds and animals in millinery reached its peak during the Edwardian era, when opulence addicted women wore giant hats adorned with a menagerie of tropical birds and foreign beasties. This crossover period of time between the Edwardian era and the 1920s combined with the fall of the upper classes and chinoiserie, the oriental fashions of the time, inspired the debut Epoque collection.
This astounding collection includes Nesty, a large couture showpiece of sinister black, lacquered willow surrounding a nest housing two little red birds and Nouveau, a couture winged showpiece consisting of tropical bird wings and long antique jet tassels. The collection has been highly praised by stylists and fashion press and Loren was a runner up in Grazia’s ‘Hat Factor’ judged by renowned milliners Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy.
The Mr Wood’s new ‘Hardy’ collection will be showcased during London Fashion Week in a window display collaboration with Cecilia Lundqvist at Start boutique in Shoreditch. The Hardy collection, inspired by the still life works of dead game by Victorian painter James Hardy Jnr., has a quintessentially, quirky English feel with pieces featuring a wood pigeon, an Old English Partridge and a Hare fur and ears amongst other creatures.
Mr Wood’s fantastically imaginative and unusual hats take millinery to new artistic heights.
