AGNÈS Madame (Milliner)

During the 1930s, hats were literally the pinnacle of fashion, and a lady would no sooner go out without her hat than she would without her dress. In France millinery was an exclusively female occupation and Madame Agnès was the most popular milliner, famous cutting her elegant brims while her clients were wearing them. Trained under Caroline Reboux, she established her own salon in 1917 on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris among all the great couturiers. She worked in the same understated manner and combined this discrimination with an awareness of art and of the artistic trends of the  1930s. The remarkable designs shown here reflect the milliner's flair for the dramatic and surreal. The crown for each black suede hat is theatrically tweaked to a high point and, on the left, a tassel of fringes is looped elegantly around the neck.

Also look up for Barthet, Hayningen-Huene, Reboux, Rouff, Talbot