Entertainment
Johnny Depp’s Pirates hat stars in Luton exhibition
A town that was the centre of the British hat-making industry is to showcase the importance of its heritage in an international exhibition.
Hats Made me opens on Saturday at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, London Road, Luton
Hats Made Me, in Luton, features more than 200 exhibits, including a red visor worn by Beyoncé and Johnny Depp’s Pirates of The Caribbean hat.
Samuel Javid, creative director of The Culture Trust, said it was “one of the largest exhibitions of this kind”.
It aimed to show “how relevant headwear still is” and runs until 10 December.
Visitors will be able to peruse this hat from the Pirates Of The Caribbean film series…IMAGE SOURCE, LUTON CULTURE TRUST
Mr Javid said: “It’s an incredibly big deal, not just locally, but nationally and internationally.
“This is probably the most ambitious thing we’ve done with our museum collections.”
The exhibition, at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, will feature hats and headwear through the years and includes creations by renowned milliner Philip Treacy. The organisers are hoping for 50,000 visitors.
IMAGE SOURCE, HELEN MULROY/BBC: Samuel Javid said hats “make you feel strong or warm or protect you for many reasons”
“We put together hats and headwear dating all the way back from 19th Century straw policemen’s, hats that were plaited together locally, to whimsical, wonderful costumes from stage and screen,” Mr Javid added.
“It really is a collection that shows how influential hats and headwear are globally.”
“This exhibition is a great nod to that heritage, but definitely a step into contemporary fashion, contemporary purpose, contemporary use, and demonstrating why hats and headwear are just a thing of the past in Luton, but how they’re globally significant now.”
IMAGE SOURCE, ASIFA LAHORE: A rainbow scarf worn by “Britain’s first out Muslim drag queen” Asifa Lahore will be on show
IMAGE SOURCE, LUTON NEWS/CULTURE TRUST: The diversity of Luton will be celebrated, Sam Javid said
Diversity will be celebrated, showcasing the town’s different cultures.
He said Jewish prayer caps, Sikh turbans, Ghanaian head-dresses and Irish communion veils can also been seen.
They have come from its own collection and items donated by the community.
IMAGE SOURCE, HELEN MULROY/BBC: Yona Lesger, who previously worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the trust’s curator of significant collections, the hat industry and headwear
Yona Lesger, exhibition curator, said: “Luton really was the centre of British hat-making.
“In the second half of the 19th Century and start of the 20th Century, the highest percentage of people worked in the town in the hat industry, compared to any other part of the country.”
In the early 1800s there were “400 factories all related to the hat industry”, which also gave the town’s professional football club its nickname of The Hatters.
Luton became known for its straw hats, as the material grown in The Chilterns was light coloured and more pliable.
IMAGE SOURCE, LUTON NEWS/CULTURE TRUST: Shop keepers frequently wore straw hats that were made in the town
“Until the introduction of Vauxhall in the early 20th Century, the hat industry was the reason that Luton was so prosperous and so many immigrants from across the world came to find jobs here,” Ms Lesger added.
Mr Javid said Luton was still the place to come for a hat.
“Celebrities from all across the world come here, because the expertise is still here, going back generations and generations.”
IMAGE SOURCE, LUCY BARLOW: A speaker hat designed by Lucy Barlow for people with dreadlocks will be on show
Mr Javid said manufacturers still remained in the town.
“It’s now up to all of us to get excited by hats and wear them, to make sure these manufacturing skills continue.”
IMAGE SOURCE, UPTOWN YARDIE: Work by Uptown Yardie, a bootmaker and hatmaker, whose work inspired by the Windrush generation, can be seen
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