We are thrilled to share the news of the exciting recent collaborations between the RSN BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery Students and Graduates, and Lock & Co Hatters, the world’s oldest hat shop.

Image Credit: Harriet Hawtry-Coombes

RSN Degree students have had the pleasure of working with Lock & Co Hatters several times over the past few years, starting with the first project in 2022, where Degree students created head adornments based on a floral theme. The hats were exhibited in the windows of Lock & Co Hatters in November 2023 and were very well received. Student Izzy Ager’s hat was sold to an American visitor who remarked that it was the most beautiful hat that she had ever seen.

These same students had also created hand embroidered/embellished baseball caps, based on features and famous landmarks from their hometowns and villages. These baseball caps were created by the students prior to starting their degree studies with us in the Summer of 2022. This project is called ‘Postcards from Home’ and provide an opportunity for new students to introduce themselves to their peer group.

This year, we see a new collection of baseball caps based on the theme ‘Postcard from Home’, which are displayed throughout the shop, which are the work of current first year students.

In the windows this year, we have on display a collection of floral headbands created by our current second year students made during the first year of their degree. The head adornments were inspired, once again, by a floral theme. It was an opportunity for them to feature their contemporary designs and interpretations for Raised Work techniques, which are taught by the RSN Tutors.

Image credit: Izzy Ager

This year we have also seen our first internships with Lock & Co Hatters. Students were interviewed for the two, two-week internship places. The internships took place in August 2024 at the Lock & Co Hatters shop. The successful students were the then second year student, Izzy Agar and first student Harriet Hawtry-Coombs. The students were awarded £1500 each for the duration of their internship and spend time learning the many facets of the Lock & Co Hatters business, from millinery techniques, to marketing, social media, photo shoots and accounting.

Image credit: Izzy Ager

Our most recent collaboration with Lock & Co Hatters has been with two of our Alumni from the RSN Degree, hand embroiderers Livia Papiernik and Claire de Waard. Both are graduates of the RSN Hand Embroidery degree programme, who now work on the degree programme as both lecturers and hand embroiderers respectfully. Both Livia and Claire were commissioned by Awon Golding, Head Milliner for Lock & Co Hatters, to develop embroidery for headbands for the Lock & Co Hatters 2024 Autumn/Winter collection. This collection is currently show-cased in store and on the Lock & Co Hatters website.