Vanja Jocic

Milliner

©Vanja Jocic

Custom-made couture hats

Vanja loves the creativity and freedom of hat making
Each hat is handmade and one-of-a-kind
Clients can commission their favourite combination

Bosnia-born Vanja Jocic was working in corporate strategic planning and finance. She was looking for a career break and decided to learn a craft out of curiosity. She became an apprentice at Prudence Millinery, a famous couture millinery in London. After the first two months working in the atelier she fell in love with the craft, its deep-rooted traditions and the fact that hat wearing is still translated into today’s world of fashion. “I knew I found my new calling,” she says. After she finished her apprenticeship, she continued making hats for friends and family and in 2016 she decided to make it a business and created her own label ‘by Vanja Jocic’. She believes that headwear is very relevant in today’s fashion landscape and as part of everyday outfits.

Interview

©Vanja Jocic

©Vanja Jocic

What do you like most about hat making?: I really love the idea that many aspects of couture millinery are so old and many of the techniques haven’t changed to this day. Every ‘by Vanja Jocic’ hat is hand moulded onto wooden moulds that are hand carved by master artisans in London. Very old and traditional tools are used to make, form and shape each hat.
How would you define your approach?: I specialise in making everyday headwear traditionally for men but with softer and more feminine shapes. This is achieved by using traditional techniques and tools of couture millinery, so I guess my specific technique is the fusion between two separate crafts: male hat making and millinery.
What inspires your creations?: I find inspiration walking in the street, I like to play with sizes and proportions of hats and for occasional headwear I like to draw parallels with headwear worn in the 1950s, especially to silhouettes made famous by great couturiers such as Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior.
What suprises people about your craft?: Every workshop that I run, I see people being surprised by so many aspects of the process. I think this is the general comment about any craft, and it highlights the importance of craftsmanship and the preservation and development of this invaluable knowledge.

Vanja Jocic is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2010