Chanel’s Fanciful Hat Maker Is Bringing A Pinch Of Parisian Whimsy To London

Couture milliner Maison Michel is opening a London flagship in December. The location on 26 Conduit Street will replace the brand’s small Burlington Arcade space, which opened its doors in 2014. “London is a key market for Maison Michel,” a spokesperson told WWD. “In London there are both local customers who are highly educated in terms of hat-making and millinery as well as a dynamic and diverse international clientele.”

“We wanted to stay in Mayfair, but with a larger space to display our collections and where we can offer the best possible service to all our customers,” they continued. “The new boutique also has much better visibility from the street.” The new Mayfair outpost will see the 1936-born Parisian hat maker experiment with a new boutique concept centred around the idea of contrasts – a play on the monochrome boxes that encase its whimsical creations. The shop will also stock a new limited-edition capsule collection called Legacy Parade before it is rolled out to other markets.

Acquired by Chanel in 1997 and integrated into its Paraffection subsidiary of specialty ateliers in 2006, Maison Michel has grown from a bespoke milliner into one of the industry’s chicest purveyors of original head toppers. Under the artistic direction of Priscilla Roye, who climbed up the ranks at Vivienne Westwood and took the helm of Maison Michel in 2015, it has grown in US and Asian markets, as well as continuing to manufacture for brands such as Maison Margiela and Lemaire. With Roye’s mission to rethink hats for everyday at the core of the company, prepare to see a lot more boaters, berets and cat-eared headbands embellished with lace veils around London in the run-up to Christmas. How festive.