Maison Michel
Paris’ oldest millinery house has made couture hats for some of fashion’s biggest labels and is now the go-to for chic and stylish hair accessories - you probably spotted its bunny ears being sported by the Olsen twins last week.
In 1936 milliner Auguste Michel set up shop on rue Sainte Anne in Paris and began making hats for the best-dressed ladies in town. And while the studio remains at the same address, Maison Michel has undergone some serious changes in its 70 year history. In 1968 the fashion house was taken over by Pierre Debard and his wife Claudine. At a time when the hat’s popularity as a wardrobe essential was on the wane he had to find a way of putting the house back on the fashion map. He discovered some old machines tucked in the back of the studio that had been used to sew straw, and he used them to make wide-brimmed, straw hats that soon found their way onto the catwalks of Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent. Over the next forty years Maison Michel was employed by some of the biggest design labels in Paris; Chanel, Givenchy, Nina Ricci, Laroche, Lanvin and Christian Lacroix.
In 1996 the house was taken over by Chanel, who has been championing Maison Michel ever since. As well as continuing to make pieces for couture, private clients and the theatre, the house now also produces its own ready-to-wear line of right-on-trend hair accessories that has proved an instant hit with the fashion pack and those in the know. Need proof? Take a look at this season’s look book, shot by Karl Lagerfeld, that features a dazzling array of familiar faces – Milla Jovovich, Anouck Lepere, Lou Doillon. Lara Stone, Olivier Theyskens, Sean Lennon and more sporting the latest offerings. And the bunny and mouse ears from the autumn 09 collection have been spotted on a host of magazine covers, as well as being rocked by the ever-stylish Olsen twins at a party in Japan. Without doubt this is the hottest accessory brand to invest in right now.
Maison Michel is available to buy at Browns.
Find out more at www.michel-paris.com
