On Sunday, the 7th of April, over thirty hat lovers gathered in St Stephens Green Park for the first annual Dublin Hat Walk.
Origins
Dublin's event was part of the larger World Hat Walk, organised by London Hat Week, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. Of course, the grandmomma of all Hat Walks is the Barcelona Hat Stroll, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on the same day! (Do check out their photos - such wild hats!)
All in all, there were over 21 Hat Walks on six continents that day! So cool!!!
Our local event's inception began with Svitlana (Lana) Savelieva reaching out to me via Instagram, asking about the existence of hat parades in Ireland. Though initially finding no evidence online, my closer scrutiny of a London Hat Week email in March unveiled an exciting prospect—Ireland could host its own Hat Walk. And just like that, through curiosity and follow-through, our event came into being!
The Dublin Hat Walk in St. Stephen's Green provided participants with a captivating experience amidst a vibrant tapestry of blooming tulips, delicate cherry blossoms, and much-appreciated sunshine. The park created a picturesque backdrop for showcasing our headwear, proudly handcrafted by local and international milliners from Argentina, Ireland, Spain, Ukraine, and the USA.
Lana is wearing the hot pink shirt that says, 'Wear More Hats'.
Well Documented
We also had THREE photographers and one fashion illustrator so we were rather spoiled with documentation of our event. These images can be seen on the Dublin Hat Walk page on Instagram.
- Tom Honan - Photographer from the Irish Times - @tomhonanphotography
- Kate Gadaish - Freelance Photographer - @kateis_ph
- Oleksandr-Martyniuk - Freelance Photographer - @olek.martin
- Louise Boughton - Fashion Illustrator - @louiseboughton
One of Louise's lovely drawings from the day!
The Organisers
Lana and I made the perfect pair, each of us going with our individual event planning strengths!
- Creative Director - Svitlana Savelieva @sveta_millinery_ua
- Director of Operations - Juliane Gorman - @felthappiness
Thank you to all the milliners and hat lovers who came to the Park on a very windy day and made the idea of a Hat Walk a reality: @christineclarkemillinery @hamillaoibhinn @daisybluemillinery @alhenamada @slynx.a and @adanoemizagaglia
Apologies to anyone that I may have missed!