One of the things I love the most about finally having a flagship store for Jill Courtemanche Millinery is that I get to meet the most fantastic people and chat with them about their lives and their passions. One of the fabulous women that I have been lucky enough to cross paths with is Lynnie Diede of Lucky to be in Love.
Lynnie is an amazingly talented designer, painter and illustrator with a great sense of humor and real zest for life. Like me she is completely willing to jump in head first so I knew we were going to come up with something glorious when she agreed to collaborate with me on a limited edition collection of hand-made and hand-painted Panama hats.
My daughter Tabitha and Lynnie's son Holden chillin' at the park.
If you know me, you know I am obsessed with leopard print (it's a total neutral). So for our first hat I asked Lynnie to create the perfect leopard print on a rich caramel straw and she totally nailed it! The print is so amazing that all I needed to trim it with was a flexible wire and a wide black grosgrain binding from France. The over-sized 8" brim is the most glorious beach hat and the perfect accessory for a black bikini and the 5" brim is my new daily go to chapeau.
For the next hat in the collection, Lynnie recreated one of her delicate lace patterns on a very finely woven Panama straw and the result is breathtaking. So simple and beautiful, I decided to finish it off with a simple black grosgrain ribbon from France, it's truly the perfect hat for a little black dress this summer.
I am so excited about these hats and I am so thrilled that I was able to work with such a talented artist to create them! All of the hats in the collection are signed and numbered and these designs will only be around for this season, so don't miss out!
xo j-co