Newcomer milliner Heather Huey is already pushing the boundaries of her art form.
It took a while before New York-born Heather Huey found the medium that would finally give voice to her inner world. It came in an unexpected form: millinery. After a few classes at FIT, Heather, like a budding Bird of Paradise, began to twist her plumage in shape.
"You need a wooden block, some felt, and some steam. Then you can make a hat. The rest is basic sewing." Heather started collecting vintage hats, especially from her favorite eras - the 40's and 50's. "Hats then were natural parts of every outfit," she says.
But for her own design, she sought something that didn't feel connected to a particular time. Heather gave herself some restraints. Color: black, shape: curves. What's left, was texture.
Her first collection, 'Curves', is a series of dramatic, sculptural couture hats that look like they could populate a world on their own, no human needed to hold them up. They're tilted and askew, often covering one eye. Heather is shy.
"The drama is in my work," she says.
Last year, Heather's designs were picked up by stylist Patti Wilson, a frequent patron of new young designers. Wilson dressed Janet Jackson in a Heather Huey hat for a cover shoot in Harper's Bazaar, photographed by Tom Munro and used a Heather Huey mask on Rhianna for a story in Italian Vogue, shot by Steven Klein. Italian Vogue recently featured Heather a third time, in an 80-page editorial shot by Steven Meisel.
"They picked all my colorful pieces," says Heather.
And there was more: Camilla Nickerson choosing one of her hats for a W feature, shot by Mario Sorrenti. Numéro. Korean Vogue. A friend who helped her build a website.
"2009 was an amazing year."
In Heather's Tribeca showroom, beside 'Curves' and a commercial collection of discreetly unexpected Fedoras, hangs something that must be the shields for the angels' game of football. They are body cages, which Heather designed on commission from a friend. She realized that her millinery techniques could take her places. She didn't need to stick to heads. Or even fashion. She morphed again. For the past nine months, in the solitude of her living room, Heather tried to design something that would give her comfort. "With sculpture, you can carve away or build up. This was building up."
Using recycled fabrics, Heather began to create. No sketching. At first, she wasn't sure what it was. "I just wanted to finally feel really comfortable with myself. Really comfortable."
The collection is Heather's yet most personal expression.
"I just spend months in my living room, molding these pieces and scraps over my own body," she says.
The result, Heather Huey's third collection, is called 'Cocoon'.