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Thursday, May 24, 2012

FASHION

Shopping With... Milliner Gigi Burris

The occupation of lady's hatmaker is sadly a dying profession. Hats were once mandatory to complete an outfit for women of all ages, but now most heads go bare day and night—unless your name starts with Lady and ends in Gaga. So how exactly does a 23 year old designer get interested in hatmaking? For Gigi Burris, it all started with a visit to some haberdasheries while studying in Paris. She came back to New York and set to work under the tutelage of couture milliner Leah Chalfen at Parsons. Her designs earned her the school's nomination for Designer of the Year in May 2009. Suddenly, her one-of-a-kind hats were everywhere, appearing in fashion magazines, gaining celebrity fans and even getting an, ahem, nod from Italian Vogue.

Because of the old school nature of her work, Burris frequently turns to eBay for inspiration and new (or rather old) techniques. “I am a big eBay fan," she says. "I am always looking for vintage styles of hats to inspire new designs. I have found some incredible vintage hats, and the quality is incredible. I learn so much about the construction, and technique by looking how things were constructed in the past. I also am often bidding on millinery trimmings. Because the hat supplies stores are slowly beginning to close their doors due to the economy."

Her fall/winter 2010 collection was inspired by “1950's put together ladies, witches, and clowns.” As Burris explains, “When I find an interesting shape, technique, or embellishment detail from a vintage hat I find on eBay, it often gives me ideas for the collection. For fall, I was looking at pill boxes, and many styles from the fifties.” Burris used a color palette of blue, taupe, navy and black and embellished her creations with “twisting rhea whip feathers, peacock floo, tassels, veiling and bows.”

This fall, Burris also has a collaboration with Screaming Mimi’s to unveil. Her friend, Nicollette Santos, the store's buyer, came up with the idea. “Screaming Mimi's is such a NYC landmark," Burris says. "[Santos] suggested that we do a collaborative diffusion line, for a downtown girl, fusing my love of old world craft with the flirty and forward vintage essence that is Screaming Mimi's. It is a slightly more affordable line, allowing me to reach a new customer, a customer I am probably friends with, considering I have been shopping at Screaming Mimi's since I moved here!” 

Burris definitely has a great grasp of what stylish girls are looking for, mixing old with new, adding unexpected and daring accessories to create a unique style. Who knows, maybe she'll even save the art of hatmaking.

** Images provided by Gigi Burris. **

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d37bd370-f9b5-4ab5-9f5f-066790f167af Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:27:47 PDT Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:27:47 PDT
Seinfeldted
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Hey everyone, Please check out Andrew Mukamal's video interview with GIGI BURRIS - Today's Look Episode # 8!! Thanks! http://andrewmukamal.com/todayslook/episode-9

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