QUEENSLAND.- The Queensland Art Gallery will be the exclusive Australian venue for a spectacular exhibition exploring the art of millinery.

'Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones' is the result of a collaboration between London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and one of the world’s foremost milliners, Stephen Jones. Exploring the fascinating world of millinery, the exhibition presents more than 250 hats and iconic headpieces, from the V&A’s extensive collection and Jones’s own archive.

The exhibition includes historical items and iconic hats, such as a twelfth-century Egyptian fez, a wide-brimmed black silk tulle hat from Christian Dior’s first collection in 1948, Mary Quant’s c.1968 navy blue beret, and Stephen Jones’s ‘Wash and Go’ hat, moulded from clear plastic to resemble a splash of water, from Spring Summer 1993.

It also features hats worn by historical and cultural icons — Elsa Schiaparelli’s black felt beret worn by Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution in 1957, Philip Treacy’s bridal headpiece created for Camilla Parker-Bowles's marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005, and Jones’s own creations such as Mick Jagger’s hat worn for the Rolling Stones ‘A Bigger Bang World Tour’ and Kylie Minogue’s Visor Headress on her ‘Showgirl’ tour.

'Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones' examines the world of millinery from the inside out, following the life of a hat through the stages of inspiration and creation to the salon, and finally, to the client who gives the hat its ultimate purpose and flourish.

The exhibition has been designed to evoke a fantastical garden in which groups of hats are arranged like decorative floral bouquets.

'Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones' will be an opportunity for audiences to delight in the frivolity of hats, but also to learn about their personal, cultural and historical significance.