Jean Barthet (1920–2000) was a French milliner who first rose to prominence in the 1950s as hat maker to Hollywood and French film stars, also designing hats for films such as '' The Young Girls of Rochefort''. He helped to define fashionable hat styles – including the

bucket hat A bucket hat (variations of which include the fisherman's hat, Irish country hat and session hat) is a hat with a narrow, downward-sloping brim. Typically, the hat is made from heavy-duty cotton fabric such as denim or canvas, or heavy wool s ...

pillbox hat A pillbox hat is a small hat, usually worn by women, with a flat crown, straight, upright sides, and no brim. It is named after the small cylindrical or hexagonal cases that were used for storing or carrying a small number of pills.

and fedora – that predominated throughout the 1960s and collaborated with major couture houses. With a career spanning more than 40 years, he remained a favourite hatmaker of Sophia Loren (both for film and personal wear), also creating hats for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's 1988 world tour.

Early life and career

Jean Barthet was born in Nay, a village in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

region of France in 1920 – although he would later put his date of birth as 1930/1. After studying at art college in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, he left for Paris, working for the milliner Gilbert Orcel before setting up his own salon.

International reputation

Barthet presented his first collection in 1949 and soon attracted an international clientele – notable among them were many Hollywood stars. He introduced hat styles that attracted newspaper publicity, including a white felt hat inspired by the Texas sheriff's

sombrero A sombrero (Spanish , ) is a type of wide-brimmed Mexican men's hat used to shield the face and eyes from the sun. It usually has a high pointed crown, an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck and shoulders of the w ...

and a feminine variation on the fedora. By the early 1960s his clients included Jacqueline Kennedy. By the mid 1960s, such was his client list that the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' said Barthet had: "more star quality customers than any Hollywood studio ever had under contract". These included names such as Sophia Loren,

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

, Brigitte Bardot and

Princess Grace of Monaco Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

. His collaborations with haute couture houses continued from his early career into the 1980s and he worked with, among others,

André Courrèges André Courrèges (; 9 March 1923 – 7 January 2016) was a French fashion designer. He was particularly known for his streamlined 1960s designs influenced by modernism and futurism, exploiting modern technology and new fabrics. Courrèges de ...

, Chanel, Claude Montana, Sonia Rykiel, Paco Rabanne and Karl Lagerfeld. He collaborated with another notable milliner, Parisian-born

Claude Saint-Cyr ''For the French general and diplomat, see Claude Carra Saint-Cyr'' Claude Saint-Cyr – sometimes Claude St-Cyr or Claude St. Cyr – (née Simone Naudet, 1911–2002) was a French milliner who worked in both Paris and London between the 1930s an ...

, who worked with him from the mid 1960s to her retirement in the early 1970s.

Legacy

Examples of Barthet's hats are in a number of public collections, including the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. In 2011, a vintage Barthet hat featured in a

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

shoot in '' Vanity Fair''. In 2014, reproductions inspired by his original models were created by his son Alexandre Barthet for the biopic '' Grace of Monaco''. Barthet was also a keen photographer and his extensive photo archive includes portraits of musicians, actors and fashion designers – some of whom are captured wearing his hat designs.

References

External links

Jean Barthet archive at the Victoria and Albert MuseumJean Barthet feathered hat at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1960sBritish Pathé film showing hats by Barthet and clothes by Ungaro and Nina Ricci, 1965Jean Barthet hats at Miss France 1998 on YouTube (from 7:05)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barthet, Jean 1920 births 2000 deaths French fashion designers French milliners 1940s fashion 1950s fashion 1960s fashion 1970s fashion 1980s fashion 1990s fashion People from Béarn