In partnership with the UNT Texas Fashion Collection, NorthPark Center is proud to present Hats: Humor and High Design on view March 7 through May 15.
Joining historic and contemporary designs, this collaborative exhibition features the holdings of the UNT Texas Fashion Collection and award-winning hats from the Milliners Guild’s 2022 annual competition. Approaching millinery as a form of wearable sculpture, this exhibition highlights fine craft and artistry while enlivening the form with humor through materials, style, and theme.
The Milliners Guild is a nonprofit organization of United States-based millinery small-business owners, milliners, and students, who all specialize in handmade headwear. The ten featured designs were created in response to the Guild’s first international millinery competition with the theme “Bes-Ben: Humor and High Design.” Selected hats were chosen through juried selections by internationally renowned milliner Stephen Jones, seasoned Broadway milliner Cigmond Meachen, Bes-Ben scholar Elizabeth Jachimowicz, and NorthPark Manager of Arts Programming Anna Kern.
The Texas Fashion Collection features historic hats drawn from the nearly 20,000 historic and designer garments and accessories that make up its permanent holdings. Part of the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas and housed at the Denton campus, this unique repository collects and documents historic dress and high fashion from past centuries through the present. The Texas Fashion Collection was created by a variety of notable groups and individuals whose vision and style continue to inspire students, researchers, and visitors.
The UNT College of Visual Arts and Design fosters creative futures for its diverse student population through rigorous arts-based education, studio practice, scholarship, and research.