Monika Perlińska, master milliner
The designer and master milliner behind Maria Monica London, a London couture millinery house making hats and headpieces by hand.
Around thirty-five years at the craft
Monika Perlińska (Monika Ciesielkiewicz) is a hat designer and couture milliner in London. She spent about five years in Philip Treacy's London atelier and around seven as head milliner at Jane Taylor. Hats she made by hand in those workrooms have been worn by the Royal Family. Maria Monica London is her own house, working in parasisal straw, felt, silk and horsehair.
She works to proportion before fashion. A shape is drawn against the face, the shoulders and the outfit, then blocked on a wooden form and finished by the same hand that drew it.
Inside the atelier
Felt
The block
The label
Occasion hats and headpieces
Commissions
Fittings are held at the London atelier or on a video call, with colours matched against a cutting of the outfit fabric. A commission takes one to four weeks.