Maison Michel celebrates 90 years of savoir-faire and creativity. Since 1936, Maison Michel has crafted hats that define a silhouette and express a personality. Nine decades of hat-making and millinery expertise passed down from generation to generation, continually reinvented and resolutely in step with their time. To mark the occasion, Maison Michel unveils an exhibition at la Galerie du 19M from September 23 to December 13, 2026, alongside a book published with the Éditions 7L.
To mark this anniversary, Priscilla Royer, Artistic Director of Maison Michel, has invited Dutch artist Bastiaan Woudt to create a series of exclusive photographs. This first collaboration is founded on a singular creative process: rather than photographing existing hats, Bastiaan Woudt draws freely from the House’s archives of shapes, materials and techniques. Based on his selections, the Maison Michel ateliers conceived and created monumental hats especially for him.
Born from the encounter between his visual universe and the artisans’ hand, these bespoke creations become the protagonists of his images. Adorning sculptural silhouettes, they compose graphic, timeless tableaux in which the House’s hats take on a new expression.
Bastiaan Woudt is a self-taught photographer whose work moves between fine art and editorial. Known for his stark black-and-white imagery, Woudt draws from the Dutch Masters and mid-century fashion photography to create portraits that feel both timeless and deeply contemporary.
His work has been published in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, L'Officiel, Esquire, Elle, and Numéro, among others.
Priscilla Royer has been Artistic Director of Maison Michel since the Autumn/Winter 2015 collection. With each collection, she has transformed the atelier into a true creative laboratory, where experimentation, material research and craftsmanship give rise to new techniques. Her approach is rooted in an ongoing dialogue between savoir-faire and contemporary creation, each nourishing the other to bring forth new forms and new ways of wearing hats. Under her direction, Maison Michel has embraced a free-spirited, personal allure—shaped by strong individualities and a renewed vision of millinery.
