hat pleats MA

The german designer Judith Lehthaus started her creative path at age 7 under the hand of her grandfathers housekeeper. Here she learned sewing, embroidery, crocheting and stopping socks. At the age of 8 she sew her first bikini pants on her mothers sewing machine and at the age of 17 she designed her first costumes for club dancers. When she turned 19 she started a teachers degree at the Witte Lelie where she learned to make hats from patterns. Already after her first year she switched to art school to study fashion. During her study she worked part time in a hat store in Amsterdam where she learned the beginnings of working with felt and straw. An offer to train as a milliner, in Germany, she declined just to start a milliners education 20 years later.

Unfortunately she turned seriously ill during this period and perspective of ever using her hands in a creative profession again seemed impossible. Against all odds, she can today, use her hands effectively for about 4 hours a day which she spends designing and creating hats.

Her speciality is working with patterns which she often combines with her passion for sustainable design and the reuse of ‘ditched’ materials. Parallel to this she has a hang up for the use of unusual materials and forms which end up in minimalistic and timeless designs.