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In the Spotlight: Edwina Noll Millinery 30/08/10

Edwina Noll Millinery: Eccentric. Unique. Fabulous

Milliners are few and far between these days, so we consider ourselves very lucky to have stumbled across local Milliner, Edwina Noll. Walking past her stall at the Unwrapped markets is not dissimilar to walking through an art gallery full of magnificent sculptures and art pieces. Based in Albany, her quirky and unique hats continue to astound us time and time again. There is no way you would blend into the background at the races in one of these creations! With plans to move to the north of WA, we made sure we caught up with Edwina before the big move! But do not fear, this is not the last we will see of Edwina Noll here in Perth...

What is your design background?

I have commuted to conferences and classes in Wagga Wagga and Melbourne over the last six years, picking up skills as I go. The classes at Louise MacDonald's studio on Swanston St have been a highlight.
I have dabbled in graphic design, animation and art. All these skills have come in handy at some point. I also have a BA in Film Production from Curtin University but work in radio now.

Have you always had a love of hats and headpieces?

Fashion has always been a great love of mine. I'm a magazine collector/hoarder. I became besotted with millinery when I worked at La Pelle in Claremont during Uni and wanted to learn traditional millinery techniques. Now I have dreams about hats.

What was your biggest fashion faux pas?

Matching Floral Esprit overall's with short legs that my Ma bought for me and my twin sister, I remember them clearly.
We looked like a couple of metro tradies who had a fondness for Laura Ashley prints and all things Austrian.

What inspires you to design?

In the past I haven't done a great deal of pre-planning with my headpieces, the material's have inspired me. Music has also been very inspiring. You should see what happens to a hat when I change the track from Grizzly Bear to Audioslave!!! Now I do pre-plan and have a more organised way of constructing hats. Usually I will rip out a magazine picture that features a great shape (it could be a building or a handbag) and try and replicate it with millinery materials.

What are your favourite materials to work with?

I recently attended the Australian Milliners Association Conference in Melbourne and learned how to make headpieces from a medical plastic webbing used to construct casts. This is a method that the tutor, Norwegian Milliner Gerd Holth, used a great deal while working at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet. I have just started playing with resin, it's so much fun. It's like the craft equivilant of scones. So quick and easy. I also screen-print and embroider the straws I use, Jin-sin and Paris cloth are ideal materials as they sculpt so beautifully.

Tell me a little bit about your latest collection...

Customers will buy their outfit before searching for a hat. So it's important to have a selection of materials and preferably colours of the season in my range. The hats I am preparing for the coming Spring and Summer season are varied to cover all customers needs. There are nude and cream scupltured headpieces, warm coloured silk mini-berets with matching hand tooled silk flowers and vintage French veiling and bright resin disc headbands to compliment the many digital prints that are currently popular with many Australian designers. I always have a selection of headpieces in black on hand as they sell so well.

Where are you based?

I'm currently in Albany but have just found out I am moving to Geraldton. Dali-esque, Schipparelli crayfish style hats might be in the pipeline... might be.

Do you have any stockists?

That's my next goal, to find some willing retailers in the metro area. I hope to be selling smaller, hardier pieces online in the not too distant future as well.

What do you hope to achieve as a designer?

I would like to see my hats in stores in Perth and maybe in Melbourne as well. To have a decent web presence would be the next step. Truthfully, I would just be happy to keep making lovely headpieces and hats! Millinery makes my life full of joy.