Meeting Andrew Wilkie – the man who makes hats for Margaret Howell
Black and white photos: Lucie Bressy
When he moved to the South of France from London in 2002, Andrew Wilkie intended to leave the fashion world behind. The aim was to focus on renovating an old house he’d bought in the 1990s and to find work locally. Possibly teaching English as a foreign language, armed with an English degree – and a more recently acquired TEFL qualification. On Saturdays from a small market stall Andrew started selling cut flowers from his garden and sun hats created from artist’s canvas. Having previously made hats for Harvey Nichols, Whistles and The Hat Shop on London’s Neal Street, had his handiwork featured on three Vogue magazine covers and archived by the V&A, of course, the orders kept rolling in. An ongoing collaboration with Margaret Howell has proved increasingly popular and Andrew has spent six months of this year producing berets, caps and Fedoras in suede and suiting-weight soft cord for Howell’s autumn/winter collection (now available at Matchesfashion.com), by hand. ‘The problem was that I never really had chance to concentrate on a productive flower garden,’ he tells me over the phone from France, ‘The flowers have faded as the hats have taken over.’
Andrew Wilkie’s studio – and hats featured in Elle magazine
Living very close to Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes-country in rural France can be tough Andrew admits, ‘I love the peace and tranquility but it’s very rural here. You can’t live here without a car, and it takes 45 minutes to get to the nearest supermarket – so you can’t forget anything when you go to the shops.’ With his enduring career in mind (over 40 years and counting), the 63-year-old hat maker is now considering a move to Paris, ‘I feel like I’ve lived the dream, retired at 46, and now I’m focusing on work again.’ Age is a contributing factor, too, ‘When I turned 60 I started to think how am I going to live the next 20-25 years. It’s quite isolated here being pseudo-self-sufficient. I’m getting older, it’s a very physical life and I know I won’t be able to keep it up forever.’
One of Andrew’s brilliant sun hats (bought at the Badgers Velvet Underground designers and makers sale in Brixton), has accompanied me on holiday to Greece and Italy over the last few years and garnered many compliments on Instagram. During this summer’s heatwave in Italy, the cotton canvas hat barely left my head and the Provencal striped band is looking a little bit salty as a result. The fabric is sturdy and sun-proof and the hat maintains its shape well; I usually wear mine to travel in but Andrew assures me that it can be packed by folding lengthways like a Panama and then across the middle ‘so that you have a shape like a flattened ice cream cone.’
Andrew in his sun hat at the French market
Before heading back to complete his Margaret Howell order, Andrew modestly insists that I mention Lucinda Chamber’s contribution to the artist’s hat, ‘ Lucinda used to use hats a lot in her wonderful photos; she gave me one she’d found in Arizona and that was my starting point. I found some artist’s canvas – and it did really well. Her support during my London years may very well be the most important single element of a successful career.’
From mid-September, Andrew Wilkie hats will be available from Lucy Barlow’s shop HATWORKS in Lewes (Needlemakers, West Street, Lewes BN7 2NZ) And in November he’ll be back in London at Badger’s Velvet Underground design fair (the weekend of 16 and 17). For further information and artist’s hat orders please contact Andrew via email on [email protected]
Discussion (16 Comments)
Maureen says:
I live in a village in Cheshire (been here 30 years so almost local) and I’m amazed by people that retire and move here. There is only one mini supermarket, a post office and a few other small shops. Nearest big place is about 10 miles away with an intermittent bus service. Nearest hospital is 12 miles away. It’s crazy. You are not getting younger, you may not always be able to drive. You need to be near things. I’m moving into town in the next 10 years
Lisa says:
Love this article!! Thank you for featuring. I love stories of artisans, their journey’s, and experiences. Great story. Thanks again and also thank you for providing sources and links. Look forward to more features like this in the future!
MaureenC says:
Fabulous hats, interesting guy and to have the humility to insist on crediting Lucinda Chambers sent him even higher in my estimation.
Aine Smith says:
What a lovely article! And what lovely hats!
I struggle to find a hat that fits my head as I have lots of hair but these really do look lovely. Jealous of a career that allows one to move to France and make something so lovely…
I love this blog!Janet says:
Love the hats, although as a spectacle wearer, hats are a bit difficult for me. I also appreciate Andrew’s concerns about life in rural France as one gets older. I have a house in the very rural Cantal: there is no local public transport, and the nearest shop is a few miles away, the nearest town which has 2 supermarkets 13 miles away, about a half hours drive on twisty mountain roads. If you are unable to drive, life is very difficult. There is a relatively local bakery (about 7 miles away) which sends a van round the small villages twice a week, and a fruit and veg van calls once a fortnight, butcher’s van weekly. Many of those in rural France have large freezers on which they depend…
Kathryn Ballentine says:
Late summer and rueful flower gardens .
Great article. Love his use of artist’s canvas.
I understand the rural dilemma. I have an old farm in Virginia. It has been laboriously transformed from a ratty heap. That’s good. But country life often lacks bookstores, conversation about ideas, theaters and broadband. This old crone resolved the old pile burden by renting a small townhouse in DC. It is a step in the process of leaving the farm..Andrew is a man of great creativity, broad intellect and most genial personality. Those of us who know from the isolation of the Ardeche would sorely miss him if he decides to go to the big city.
Maria says:
I was in the couture end of the millinery business as a model in the 60s and loved it all. How I would like to meet Andrew Wilkie or at least be able to afford one of his hats!
Teresa says:
What a lovely article. What a nice man. I love hats but like previous contributor, I wear glasses plus I have a large head so struggle to find hats that suit/fit. I do have a favourite hat- a brown, animal print soft wool beret, which I bought ages ago from my local charity shop, which goes with a suprisingly large amount of outfits.
Mrs Tonia says:
I would like to go to the Badgers event if I can this Autumn. Will check out the link. I used to wear hats in Biba era and still have a lot of straw sun hats I wear in summer. Quite a collection I’ve kept for a long time. And similar to Alyson I travel with one.
Writing this from rural south east France I appreciate the problems of village life. Here the bakery has shut along with the butcher and grocery shop. You can’t buy a croissant or newspaper or magazine any more. There is a small grocery shop we can just about access on foot if you’re able to climb hills with a bag of shopping. Mostly it’s for car drivers to visit. Nearby there’s a pharmacy fortunately.
The small shops have been forced out by the bigger supermarkets with large car parks selling everything. Public transport non existent. It’s beautiful but isolated and not somewhere I’d like to live out of season.
As you get older urban life appeals far more and access to amenities and leisure facilities either on foot or by bus gain in significance.Isobel says:
I’m seriously contemplating moving to a small inner-city apartment within the next couple of years, so that I can WALK to everything that interests me…. museums, art galleries, parks and gardens (especially the Botanical Gardens), theatres, library… while I still can! However the thought of not having even a small garden (this one’s definitely a bit much now), saddens me a bit.
Rachael 
Dee Hall 
Jpierreviala Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Ahhh – just when you alert us to the virtues of not buying new clothes…
Wonderful hats. Not actual clothes either, hats.
And an interesting side-subject: whether to grow old in a rural environment (somewhere far away) or in a city.