demure hat

demure hat is more than just another fashion brand. It is the result of a lifetime of passion for, and dedication to the use of traditional techniques to achieve modern and luxurious aesthetics. Here you can learn a little more about what makes demure entirely unique and what makes imitations impossible.

Who is behind demure?

My name is Yuki Isshiki and I originally come from Osaka, Japan. My mother’s family used to trade in kimono fabrics and my father’ family had wood carpentry background. Since when I was small, I have always loved making things using my hands. I moved to London when I was 23 years old and that’ s where I learned millinery or traditional art of hat-making. My teacher has been making hats for Vivienne Westwood and other prominent fashion houses/ hat makers. Quite a few years of learning from her gave me a solid foundation as a milliner.

Some years later, I moved to Amsterdam as I fell in love with the beautiful city and it’s friendly people. They managed to convince me to open a studio/shop “demure couture hat Amsterdam” September 2016.

What is a ‘demure hat’?

A hat sits right on your face and can affect your look as much as your haircut. I make sure that the colours and the shapes compliment your faces and the sources of your insecurity are removed. Practical considerations are taken such as ‘cycling’, ‘rain and wind’. Also, use of particular materials and certain techniques ensure comfort.

That’ s why, wherever possible, I prefer to meet you and show the hats myself or design ones together. Our knowing each other helps you to have confidence in my hat. I enjoy this process very much.

work

I work according to authentic methods and use high quality sustainable materials (instead of plastics and chemicals), which is more time consuming. It helps me achieve better aesthetic result (invisible stitches by hands, more intricate details etc) and more comfort (diagonal hand stitches to allow joints some movement etc). Also, what comes with the old fashioned techniques is the way they care about the resources (which used to be more limited when those techniques were developed). Much care is taken to minimise waste.

sizing

If you are curious about your head size, this is an easy way to measure it yourself relatively accurately:

You take a tape measure and start in the middle of your forehead. The tape measure goes right about your ear, pass the thickest part at the back of your head (the top of the ‘bump’ that many people hat), pass above the other ear and come back to the forehead. This is an easy way to measure your head. However, if you have any doubt, I can always do it for you!