EMILY HURST

Emily Hurst is a milliner, designer, maker and craftsperson with a passion for the heritage craft of straw work. She is dedicated to the conservation and modernisation of these skills that were once so integral to the global hat industry, such as traditional plaiting, weaving and swiss decorative techniques - elevating them to fit within the current world of fashion.

Starting her creative journey through an interest in visual storytelling through costume, Emily obtained a first class degree in Costume Design and Construction. It was during this time that she began exploring historical techniques, including straw plaiting - and discovered that the craft was in danger of extinction. After falling in love with the versatile and sustainable nature of straw, she took a year to invest herself in the craft with help from Veronica Main MBE and her books - and began to experiment with how it could be used in new and unique ways, from decorations all the way to puppetry.

In 2024, Emily was accepted into the inaugural cohort of The CHANEL and The King’s Foundation Metier D’arts Millinery Fellowship in partnership with Le19m, a pioneer program in the conservation of hat making within the UK. This included formal millinery training in a range of materials including felt, sinamay and straw, with a notable highlight being the use of the 17 Guinea Straw Machines - a staple of the heritage straw hat industry which date back to the late 1800s. The fellowship also provided an opportunity to work in the ateliers at Maison Michel, working alongside the hatmakers and milliners to gain an insight into the Savoir-faire that has been previously passed down from generation to generation. The fellowship encouraged a level of new found precision and innovation that inspired her further to reignite straw as a sustainable material associated with fashion.