Milliner Julie Fleming occupies Studio 3 at JamFactory at Seppeltsfield. Making and selling hats, fascinators and headbands since 1989, she is one of Australia's longest-established high fashion milliners, dedicated to style and design.

As a milliner for over 30 years, how did you get started in the field? 

After five years at art school and with a post grad in painting and printmaking, I knew I wanted to make a living from my art. My millinery stems from a love of making things – initially I made for a friend who opened a hat shop in Melbourne and madly saved to travel, landing in London in the 1980’s. Three weeks into London I faced the likelihood of having to ‘go back’ if I didn’t get a job pronto! I rang every milliner in London and ended up with three interviews, the last one which offered me a job – Philip Somerville in the West End. I loved every minute, determined to learn as much as I could while I had the opportunity, learning from women who were in their 70’s and 80’s and whom had been milliners since they were 14 years old – expert makers. They could do amazing things with the materials they were given and I was like a big sponge lapping it up. At art school I would never have believed that I would end up in the fashion industry. I am so grateful for that training as I came away with the skills and a disciplined workroom practice, but importantly I came away with a ‘world’ view which I have been able to tap back into throughout my career.

“[I was] determined to learn as much as I could while I had the opportunity, learning from women who were in their 70’s and 80’s and whom had been milliners since they were 14 years old – expert makers. They could do amazing things with the materials they were given and I was like a big sponge lapping it up.”

You occupy Studio 3 at JamFactory at Seppeltsfield, tell us about your space.

This is about my sixth studio and I do believe you expand to suit the environment! The space is self-contained and I do not share the space which I like, I find I work better this way and I can keep my space very clean which is necessary with textiles. My studio is chock-a-block with bits and pieces and as it is a small space I need to be very organised with everything labelled. As my display area is small I do have to be organised online as well, nothing like the flat panic when something sells online and there is a mad panic to locate it – although I am getting better at this! Lockdown gave me time to get super organised both in the bricks and mortar shop and in my online presence. 

You’ve trained and worked around the world, what drew you to setting up your practice in the Barossa? 

Melbourne really was becoming too expensive for a business like mine to survive. I was looking for a big lifestyle change as all I did really was work and battle traffic to and from work every day. My sister lived in the Barossa for many years and I had visited many times so it was natural to look towards relocating. At that stage, I was thinking of a shop in one of the little towns but I got lucky and it happened to coincide with JamFactory at Seppeltsfield opening.  I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to live and work in this beautiful part of South Australia and to continue my millinery. Today I drive 10 minutes to work – past a flock of sheep, I revel in the open skies, lifestyle and the beauty of the valley.

Not many people realise the work involved in making a hat. Can you walk us through the process of creating a piece from design to completion?     

A hat can take several days to make. At a visit to my studio you would typically see me working on several hats at once. There can be large parts of the process where I am waiting for something to dry and it is just easy and more time efficient to move onto something else. In the first instance, the basic materials are selected which normally involves colour selection, shape, size and profile. Some designs I allow to just evolve, like when I am designing a range and others are a ‘copy’ of the original model in a colour or size to suit the customer. Once the material is selected it is then blocked onto a wooden block, in the case of a standard hat the crown is usually blocked first and the brim blocked separately. Both need to be blocked and dried before they come off the block, they are then hand joined (stitched) and the hat is trimmed. Afterwards the crucial hand finishing and primping is done which helps bring the finished product a cut above. 

“My work stems from a love of making – to me the pure joy of creating something perfectly.” 

How do you stay inspired?  

I would like to think it’s with my designs being relevant. No one can stay inspired long term without selling anything. I do get inspiration from my client’s needs and I find inspiration really in the materials and pushing those materials to their limits and to a couture level. I look obviously to my favourites in the fashion world in London and Paris and take their lead, hopefully with a Julie Fleming take.

My work stems from a love of making – to me the pure joy of creating something perfectly. My work is also very diverse and I think that fact has kept my interest all these years. I make every day that I am in my studio, five days of the week.

www.jfmilliner.com
@julie_fleming_milliner

https://www.jamfactory.com.au/marmalade/2020/2/25/open-studio-3-julie-fleming-sep

Photos courtesy of Dragan Radocaj. Model photos Julie Fleming.