Thoroughly Italian millinery: Federica Moretti

Hats come in different shapes and with different functions: some are practical and protective, others give the greatest satisfaction when worn for pleasure. There was a time when hats were simply the norm, though in the last decades they were often considered as frivolous and unnecessary accessories.

Yet in the last two or three years, hats seem to have become trendy again and innovative milliners have arrived on the scene as the “Headonism” event organised during the latest London Fashion Week also proved.

In Italy the long-standing history of millinery is being renewed and revolutionised thanks to Federica Moretti’s experimental creations.

In the last few years Moretti has been experimenting with the most bizarre materials, from wood to paper, while collaborating with various brands and designers - among them also Moschino, Giuliano Fujiwara and Borsalino - creating exclusive hats and headwear used as showpieces at various catwalk shows.

Moretti’s A/W 09 collection features men and women’s hats conceived as weapons to heighten, enhance or reveal secret aspects of the wearer’s personality that can be worn according to the wearer’s taste and desire.

Classic style and ecology inspired instead the S/S 2010 collection: using recycled paper, Moretti came up with three different men's hats in black, white and beige that look as perfect as ordinary cotton hats, but are extremely light and easy to wash.

Question: How did you decide to become a milliner?
Federica Moretti: I actually studied art, graphic design and photography in Modena, then I moved to Milan where I continued my photography studies at the Istituto Europeo di Design and spent half a year in New York concentrating on video art. I’ve always liked hats, but it was while in New York that I got into millinery. Once back in Milan I realised people liked the hats and headdresses I did while working as a photographer. Magazines started using them for photo shoots and, in February 2006, I started collaborating with Moschino making some pieces for the brand’s catwalk show. Soon other designers and brands asked me to do a few pieces for them as well and, little by little, it turned into a proper job.

Question: Do you find it difficult to work for such established brands and designers?
Federica Moretti: No, since the hats and headwear I design for their collections are usually conceived as something quite different from the actual collection. They never provide me with the material that I should use nor they ask me to redo a hat for ten times if they don’t like it. Some brands or designers provide me with ideas and suggestions, then I look up for the materials and make a prototype. If the latter looks very different from what they actually had in mind, they ask me to bring in some of my creations and integrate them into their collections. It’s usually a fun project as it’s a continuous challenge and it involves bouncing ideas off each other.

Question: What’s the most extravagant material you have used so far for your hats?
Federica Moretti: The collection that brought me to the attention of the fashion media was entirely made out of paper and was showcased at Milan’s Triennale for the exhibition “The New Italian Design”. Before that I had collaborated a lot with fashion editors, but that collection gave me more visibility as it was featured in many fashion magazines, so it became my favourite collection. I like different materials though and so far have used many, from fibreglass to Plexiglass and wood. I conceive millinery as a continuous experimentation process that allows me to use different materials rather than just fabric. Right now for example I’m working with fur and glass.

Question: What’s the first thing you do when you start creating your hats?
Federica Moretti: I usually start with an idea and I develop my designs from there. Sometimes I start from a previous hat, but more often the design process begins from something that has happened to me in my every day life.

Question: Can you tell me more about your A/W 09 men and women’s collections, what inspired them?

Federica Moretti: For my new collections I took a few classic styles and reinterpreted them. For what regards the men’s collection I took hats such as bowler or top hats with perfect structures and added a few dents to give the impression someone had punched the hat or sat on it. Though the hats are produced in series they are finished by artisans with a handmade process, so the dents are always different and this turns each hat into a unique piece. For what regards the women’s collection, I tried instead to play with the hats a bit, exploring a very different concept, designing a sort of two-in-one hat. I literally built the hat in different steps, slicing in half a bowler hat so that it can be worn as a bowler or as a Hamish-style bonnet, with the brim turned upwards. If you go out in the morning, you can wear this hat in a more traditional way and turn it the other way round, radically transforming it for the evening, or for a more formal occasion. The peculiarity of this hat is that, because of its structure, you don’t realise at first that it’s actually a two-in-one hat. Besides, everyone can wear this hat in a different and more personal way. For instance, when fashion editors call me to ask in which way a model should wear one of my creations, I just tell them to wear it as they like it best. It often happened to me in the past to see a hat in a magazine and realise only later on that it was actually mine as a particular fashion editor chose to put it on a model in a way I had never thought about.  Question: Would you ever start your own clothing line?

Federica Moretti: I’m not sure, though at the moment I’m thinking about trying to transfer the two-in-one concept I applied to my hats onto footwear. For the time being I’d like to develop more what I started as, after all, I’ve only been doing this for three years. I never thought I could have become a milliner, but this art has surprised me in many ways and the passion for my work has grown more as the years passed.

Question: Who is your favourite milliner?

Federica Moretti: Stephen Jones, he’s absolutely the best. It would be difficult to leave the career I have built in three years here in Italy, yet part of me would leave everything and go to work for him as I feel that I would definitely learn a lot from such a great artist.

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