hatwalk: london's statues get a fashion makeover

lord nelson, trafalgar square – hat by lock & co image: MOL

if you were in london yesterday you may have noticed some of the city’s statues dressed to the nines.

curated by world renowned british milliners, stephen jones and philip treacy; hatwalk brought together 21 emerging and established designers to showcase british millinery at its very best.

the one day event which saw bespoke hats designed for some of london’s statues, celebrated london’s standing as a global capital of millinery and emphasized its rich heritage, bringing the sometimes overlooked statues to life.

throughout the games the public will also be able to see the complete collection of all the hats on life-sized copies of the statues at:

BT house BT london live 30th july – 12th august hyde park, london

on 31st july grazia magazine and BT are also hosting a fashion event in BT house, where grazia’s style director, paula reed and hatwalk curators philip treacy and stephen jones will be holding a fashion talk about the project. visit www.btlondonlive.com for information.

hatwalk was commissioned by the mayor of london, in partnership with BT, grazia magazine, the british fashion council and the london 2012 cultural festival.

lord nelson, trafalgar square – hat by lock & co lock & co, the oldest hatters in london, established in 1676, and famed for making nelson’s original bicorn hat, created an updated version complete with olympic torch as a nod to a summer like no other in this city. image: MOL

duke of wellington – hat by house of flora image: MOL

franklin d roosevelt – hat by john boyd winston churchill – hat by herbert johnson image: MOL

clockwise: king george IV – hat by stephen jones general sir charles james napier – hat by sophie beale angel of peace – hat by rachel trevor morgan general sir henry havelock -hat by square philip treacy images: festival of london 2012 / MOL

left: queen victoria – hat by justin smith esq. right: francis 5th duke of bedford – hat by piers atkinson images: MOL

robert burns wearing – hat by william chambers images: MOL

sir arthur sullivan – hat by gina foster the lady – hat by victoria grant images: MOL

grazia’s illustrated map of the hatwalk statue locations

hatwalk statues and participating designers: (numbers correspond to the map above)

1. duke of wellington, near wellington arch by house of flora 2. angel of peace, wellington arch by rachel trevor-morgan 3. f.d roosevelt, bond street  by john boyd 4. winston churchill, bond street by herbert johnson 5. william shakespeare, leicester by square bernstock speirs 6. beau brummell, jermyn street by noel stewart 7. general sir henry havelock, trafalgar by square philip treacy 8. lord nelson, trafalgar square by lock & co 9. general sir charles james napier, trafalgar square by sophie beale 10. robert burns, victoria embankment by william chambers 11. king george IV, trafalgar square by stephen jones 12. sir arthur sullivan, victoria embankment by gina foster 13. the lady, victoria embankment  by victoria grant 14. isambard kingdom brunel, victoria embankment by charlie le mindu 15. francis 5th duke of bedford, russell square  by piers atkinson 16. charles james fox, bloomsbury square by pip hackett 17. young lovers, festival gdns by shirley hex 18. queen victoria, blackfriars by justin smith esq 19. captain john smith, cheapside by edwina ibbotson 20. william shakespeare, st mary aldermanbury gardens by emma fielden 21. 1st duke of wellington, bank of england by  ian bennett   grazia have behind the scenes images and interviews with the designers here.