Isabelle Léourier

Milliner

©Anthony Girardi

©Jean-Michel Régent

©Isabelle Leourier

Haute couture hats

Isabelle is convinced of the soothing and beneficial power of beauty
She has received many awards and distinctions for her work
Nature and women are her main source of inspiration

For almost 30 years, Isabelle Léourier has imagined and created exquisite and delicate hair jewels and hat-sculptures. From her years spent in haute couture and the many collaborations she had with major French and Italian haute couture designers (such as Christian Lacroix, Valentino and Jean-Louis Scherrer), Isabelle has acquired a unique know-how and invented a world of her own. Her creations, are at the crossroads of fashion, design and art. They can be delicate and discreet or grandiose and voluminous, but they are always unique. Exhibited in galleries, fashion shows, and professional fairs, her work has also been noticed by the Galleria Museum in Paris and the Chazelle Hat Museum in Lyon, both of which have acquired some of her works.

Interview

©Anthony Girardi

©Anthony Girardi

How did you become a milliner?: After I finished my training as a stylist, I worked for ready-to-wear collections. I was designing clothes but never saw the result and I was confined to sewing patterns. I decided to become my own boss and took a hat making internship. At first, I thought it was old fashioned, but I was quickly won over by the freedom it offered. I no longer drew on paper but in space!
Is your creative process traditional?: I express tradition by drawing on ancient craft techniques that I intuitively transgress in order to serve my taste for experimentation. Why seek to achieve what already exists when weaving my own path seems infinitely more motivating?
In what sense is your approach unique?: My sense of volume, space, balance and lightness enable me to work as effectively on small pieces as well as carrying out big installations. My universe is very personal, but haute couture clients – and more recently decorators – come to me with big projects looking for a more poetic approach.
How would you define well made?: For me, it represents what cannot be seen: the emotion that you feel when you see a finished work. The hand, the work, the hours spent – they are all forgotten in the transformative power of the final piece. The image of the dancer comes to mind: his lightness, the amplitude and the accuracy of the gestures erase the hours of work that earned him that natural grace.

Isabelle Léourier is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1994 and she started teaching in 2021