Justin Smith (born in 1978) is a British milliner based in London, who creates bespoke millinery under the J Smith Esquire brand for private clients and films. Smith's hats have appeared in exhibits and been acquired by the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

in New York and the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He has been a visiting lecturer at London's

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

and has conducted seminars and teaching workshops for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Early life

From 1998 to 2002, Smith served as the Creative Director and Head of Avant Garde for the Toni & Guy Group. Following this, in 2003, he founded his own J Smith Esquire hairdressing salon in London's

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

, focusing on conceptual and avant-garde styles, session styling for the style press, advertising campaigns, and private clients. He was a finalist for the British Hairdressing Awards in 2001 as Avant-Garde Hairdresser of the Year and won the first prize at the 2000 London Alternative Hair Show Smith is a graduate of the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

Kensington and Chelsea College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the lat ...

, and Royal College of Art, where he obtained an MA in Millinery in 2007.

Millinery career

Smith established J Smith Esquire in 2007, following his Royal College of Art graduation collection called ''Le Cirque Macabre''. The brand has produced sixteen collections since its launch. Hats by J Smith Esquire have been shown at London, Paris and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

fashion weeks, as well as Rome Couture and

Jakarta Fashion Week Jakarta Fashion Week or JFW is a fashion event held annually in Jakarta, Indonesia. JFW is dubbed as the largest fashion event in Southeast Asia. JFW is organized as a collaboration platform between major stakeholders of the fashion and creati ...

. He has collaborated with designers including

Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCartney is ...

Moschino Moschino () is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino in Milan known for over-the-top, Camp (style), campy designs. The company specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, and fashion accessories. Moschino's ...

, Manish Arora,

Oscar Lawalata Asha Smara Darra (born Oscar Septianus Lawalata, 1 September 1977) is an Indonesian fashion designer. She studied fashion at schools in Jakarta. She finished half of the 3-year term and then quit during the monetary crisis in 1998. She opened her ...

, Aganovich, Emilio de la Morena and

Aveda Aveda Corporation ( ) is an American cosmetics company founded by Horst Rechelbacher, now owned by Estée Lauder Companies, and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aveda manufactures skin and body care, cosmetics, perfume (internally call ...

. In 2011, a retrospective exhibition, installation, and book launch took place at the

Royal Horseguards Hotel The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a luxury hotel that is located at 2 Whitehall Court in the Whitehall district of London, England. It is operated by the Clermont Hotel Group, a subsidiary of GL Limited of Singapore. History The building is the ...

, London, including five bespoke doorman hats made for the hotel group. In 2012, as part of London's Jubilee celebrations, Smith was invited to take part in BT Artbox, transforming a replica phone kiosk, and Hatwalk, commissioned by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

, in partnership with BT and Grazia magazine, putting a hat on the statue of Queen Victoria on London's

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

. In 2012, Smith created the leather head wraps for

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

in ''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Dark lord, Mistress of All Evil" based on the Wic ...

'' on which he worked in collaboration with the actor. Since ''Maleficent'' he has also produced hats for Jolie and

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

in '' By The Sea;'' for

Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began acting at 15, with a recurring role as Lucy Montgomery in the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1999–2001). She came to prominence for he ...

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in sketch shows such as '' French and Saunders'' (1988–1999), played a recurring role as Magda on the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992� ...

and ensemble nuns in '' Pan;'' and

Armie Hammer Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. He began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'' and Hamme ...

and

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (; ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Vikander, Her accolades include an Academy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film ...

in ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for '' Smash Hits'', and assist ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

and

Matthew Herbert Matthew Herbert (born in 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, Wishmountain, and DJ Empty, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music. ...

have worn Smith's hats during live performances.

Awards

Smith was awarded the 2016 Generali Future Award by International Talent Support at a live presentation in Trieste, Italy in July 2016. Smith also won the Maria Louisa and I-D Styling awards by International Talent Support in 2007. His previous awards include "Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year" Award for 2011 awarded by the

and New Generation sponsorship and inclusion over several years in the Hedonism millinery collective, awarded by the

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual Women's wear and Men's wear showcases, London F ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Justin English fashion designers British milliners 1978 births Living people