Since 1936, Maison Michel has created exceptional hats and headwear using unique savoir-faire. The Maison produces pieces for both Ready-to-Wear and Haute Couture. Since 2006, the workshop has been designing and distributing its own collections under the Maison Michel brand.
The process of creating a Maison Michel hat begins long before the couture workshop. The form-maker, a true sculptor of the line, imagines the hat’s silhouette even before it takes shape. Starting with a block of lime wood, he cuts, assembles, files, and carves the material to create a unique form. In the Maison Michel archives, over 3,000 forms, patiently crafted and preserved over time, constitute a living heritage of volumes, crowns and interchangeable brims, which is enriched with each new collection.
From the choice of material to the first steps, the hatmaker transforms the raw material into iconic pieces. Each material has its own specific characteristics: felt, made malleable by steam, is stretched and shaped by hand over the wood, without ever bearing the mark of the tool. Soaked, primed, dried, and then fixed onto a wooden form, natural woven straw is repeatedly manipulated by the hatmaker to give it its final shape.
Wool, which is denser, lends itself to structured or supple forms depending on the cut and treatment chosen. In this sequence of steps, shaping—the process of sculpting the pliable material—is an essential stage, during which the hats are fashioned by hand using wooden blocks onto which the material is stretched, pinned, and then set with steam.
The milliners then take over to bring the creation to life, in a process of shaping and finishing that requires extreme precision. They attach the headband, the label, the ribbon, and select the trimmings—from grosgrain to feathers, veils, silk braids, or embroidery—which are then fixed by hand, sometimes using vintage machines adapted for the most delicate materials. Among their other iconic techniques is sewn straw, created using the Weismann machine, where spools of hemp straw in various colours are sewn in a spiral pattern to form hats with bold silhouettes.
Passing on this expertise is central to the Maison's ethos. Often hailing from some of the last institutions to offer hat-making training, such as the Octave Feuillet, Camille Claudel, and La Source secondary schools, new recruits undergo a gradual apprenticeship based on practical experience and observation. Learning to recognise the density of felt, adjusting the temperature of an iron, understanding how straw reacts to steam, all form a nuanced vocabulary, acquired slowly, over time.
Founded by Auguste Michel in 1936, the Maison is distinguished by the exceptional quality of its finishes, the precision of its volumes, and the rigour of its execution—all hallmarks that forge its identity. In 1968, Claudine and Pierre Debord took over the workshop with the aim of preserving its soul whilst embedding it within the dynamism of contemporary couture. Because modernity also stems from mastery of the craft, they revived an iconic tool of the trade: the Weismann machine, brought back into service in 1975. Rare and precious, it alone embodies the Maison's philosophy: combining innovation and tradition, lightness and strength, elegance and functionality.
Almost a century after it was founded, Maison Michel remains driven by the same commitment: to preserve the tradition of French millinery whilst meeting the demands of the contemporary world. Since 2006, it has also developed and distributed its own creations under the brand of the same name.
In 1997, Maison Michel joined CHANEL’s Métiers d’art ecosystem. Since 2021, Maison Michel has been a resident at le19M.
