Monday, October 12, 2009

Grainne Maher Milliner!











Belfast born milliner Gráinne Maher, creates bespoke headwear, including couture hats, fascinators, tiaras and corsages. She also reworks and remodels vintage headpieces under the design label Pluck & Devour. Working from her home studio at Ravenhill, Gráinne produces sophisticated pieces using classic shapes, hand-dyed feathers and antique embellishments. She also experiments with avant-garde styling and modern materials to achieve statement pieces that are not for the fainthearted.
After studying Music at Queen’s, Gráinne moved to Devon where she undertook a scholarship funded PhD researching the effect of corsetry and other body manipulating costume on the voice. This led to an increasing interest in fashion and ultimately to a period of study in Dublin on a range of millinery techniques. Having worked for many years as an artist in various disciplines; including performance art and installation, and with a background in fashion and consumer PR, Gráinne Maher brings together an array of interests and inspirations that feed her work.
More recently she has trained in millinery techniques and those of a ‘plumassier’ with world class milliner Ian Bennett, who has worked with an impressive line-up of millinery greats including Stephen Jones, Frederick Fox and the royal milliner Philip Somerville. Gráinne Maher has also studied a range of hatmaking and tiara skills with Dublin based milliner Jeanette Pegley-Reed.
Gráinne Maher Millinery has recently been awarded an Arts Council grant from the Creative Industries Innovation Fund which will greatly serve to expand and develop this business and brand. GMM has plans in the next 12 months to continue her millinery study in Ireland, Scotland and England alongside several eminent hatmakers.
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STOCKISTS: A range of one-off couture headpieces plus a ready-to-wear collection of cocktail hats will be available to purchase in the next few weeks from:
Una Rodden Couture in Belfast
50 Upper Arthur StBelfast, BT1 4GJ, United Kingdom +44 28 90248811

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