Vivien Sheriff is one of the most well-known UK milliners there is - based in a rural studio in Wiltshire, her designs are undeniably British. It's no surprise, then, that she's a favourite of the royal family - particularly the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton - and that many of the guests at William and Kate's wedding in 2011 were wearing her hats and fascinators. Now, with attention firmly on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's upcoming nuptials in May, there's bound to be some Vivien Sheriff millinery amongst the guests at St George's Chapel in Windsor - so HELLO! met Vivien at her countryside studio to see what goes into making her iconic hats…
Photo: © Getty Images
The Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear a Vivien Sheriff piece for her first official engagement in 2011
"We design hats, we manufacture pieces here, which go all over the world," Vivien says. "Some pieces are going to the royal wedding, and we've made many pieces for many eminent heads over the years."
MORE: Meghan Markle's favourite colour to wear is very different to Kate Middleton's
Milliner Vivien Sheriff
"We've got so many beautiful components in this studio - there's always an array of feathers and crystals - it's just beautiful," she continues. "A real Vivien Sheriff signature is the way we use colour - so the feathers, the elegance of the piece. Often our pieces are called 'wearable art'."
Photo: © Getty Images
Princess Eugenie also wore one of Vivien's hats to the Trooping of the Colour 2016
Most famously, the Duchess of Cambridge wore a feathered Vivien Sheriff hat for her first official engagement in February 2011, after the announcement was made that she was to wed Prince William that spring. Another iconic moment was Princess Eugenie at 2016's Trooping of the Colour, while Pippa Middleton also chose the brand for the wedding of Lady Katie Percy and Patrick Valentine. So how does it feel to see royalty wearing her pieces? "It's a great feeling… it's really exciting. We often don't know when people are going to wear them, and so we'll cluster around an iPhone or something and just think, 'Oh my god, look at this!'"
