Synopsis
Forme Millinery which originated in Kentucky and then began being sold online, in top magazines and in many different store locations around the country. It has grown to include two main brick and motor locations one in Kentucky and one in Chicago with even more names and magazines supporting the brand and featuring hats. Forme Millinery was created in 2007 but the founder Jenny Pfanenstiel has had a passion for using an ancient technique to create hats since a very young age. Jenny started off her career as a designer working with many top celebrities but later decided to open her own business doing something she loves and is passionate about.
Jenny has been winning creativity awards since attending design school The Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Colorado in 1997. There she won Most Creative Upcoming Designer as well as a scholarship award which contributed to her education. She later won 2012 FGI Rising Star award and the Hatty Award twice. Jenny is currently on the board of directors for The Apparel Industry Board and Fashion Group International. The hats have been featured and sold in magazines like Vogue, Tatler, Country Living, Mary Janes Farm, Today’s Chicago Woman and Belle Armoire. They have also been featured on the Oprah show and are owned by First Lady Michelle Obama. Jenny is a featured Milliner at the Derby and at Louisville, Kentucky’s Waterfront Fashion Week.\ These hats created by Forme Millinery are considered sculptures of the head and are created using both traditional and non-traditional millinery materials. Forme Millinery collections include a couture Derby/Ascot hat line, women’s couture cocktail hat line, a couture wedding hat line, a couture gentlemen’s hat line, a vintage baby hat line and a vintage headband line. They are all hand sown couture hats. Jenny also offers personal workshops. These workshops can be both for a group or one on one, materials are provided. There are basic sewing and serging workshops available too.
Locations Include: The Drake Hotel 140 East Walton Street Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 7872200 www.thedrakehotel.com Made in Chicago 16 W. Grand Ave. Chicago, IL 60654 Eva Pazola 1729 N. Clybourn Ave. Chicago, IL 60614 www.evapazola. com Curly Tale Fine Art 16 W. Erie St. Chicago, IL 60654 www.curlytalefineart.com OOTRA 315 S. Main St. Naperville, IL 60540 www.ootra.com Comfy Bummy 231 S. Washington St. Naperville, IL 60540 www.comfybummy.com TLD Gallery 26 E. Quincy St. Westmont, IL 60559 http://www.tldgallery. com/ KENTUCKY Formé Millinery Hat Shop/Les Filles Louisville (Permanent Location) 562 South 4th Street (SOFO) Louisville, KY 40202 Keeneland Race Track 4201 Versailles Road Lexington, KY 40510 www. keeneland.com Churchill Downs Race Track Kentucky Derby Museum 704 Central Ave. Louisville, KY 40208 www. derbymuseum.org
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Millinery Hat Shop/Les Filles Louisville (Permanent Location) 562 South 4th Street (SOFO) Louisville, KY 40202 www.formemillinery.com 773.719.7307
Koi Gallery - Galt House Hotel 140 N. 4th Street Suite 328 Louisville, KY 40202 Speed Art Museum 2035 S. 3rd. Street Louisville, KY 40208 http://www.speedmuseum.org/ Clodhoppers 3725 Lexington Rd. Louisville, KY 40207 www. clodhoppers.com Equus Run Vineyards 1280 Moores Mill Rd. Midway, KY 40347 www.equusrunvineyards.com Victorian Square Shoppes 401 West Main Street Lexington, KY 40511 WISCONSIN Cornerstone 214 Broad Street Lake Geneva, WI 53147 NORTH CAROLINA aMuse 19 South 2nd Street Wilmington, NC 28401 COLORADO Luna 267 Washington Street Monument, CO 80132 UTAH Thanksgiving Point 30032 Thanksgiving Way Lehi, UT 84043 NATIONAL Fashion at the Raceshttp:// fashionattheraces.com/store/ hats-fascinators-and-hatinators/forme-millinery/ Sears www.sears.com
For Jenny Pfanenstiel her love for vintage hats came at a young age. She began collecting them and receiving sewing lessons from local seamstresses. She later worked for a Costume Designer from London in high school which helped with her decision to attend design school for college as she already acquired many skills in relation to this career. Jenny attended The Art Institute of Colorado and received her degree in Fashion Design in 1997. After working in the industry as a designer for about ten years Jenny decided to follow her true passion and created her own company doing something she loves which is creating hats and named it Forme Millinery. She has an amazing hand sewing talent that has previously been put to use to make costumes so the change in style to the hand sewn couture hats was natural to her. She has a delicate touch and can incorporate age old materials into the hats making them not only sculptures for the head but one of a kind. As this business is continuing to grow the Forme Millinery hats are being featured in many magazines and owned by top celebrities. This business started as a way to continue the millinery tradition and pass down this way to hand make these elegant style of hats.
There is quite a selection of hats that differ per season. The fall/winter hats include subtle colors and a variety in styles including head fitting hats. The spring/summer hats mostly have brims to assist with sun protection and beautiful flowers attached with colors that pop. The cocktail and wedding hats are all unique trendy and versatile complementing any dress or dressy attire while the gentlemen’s hats are all brims and include unique color variations straw and fedoras. The baby forme millinery includes crochet and other soft fabrics with fun colors while the headbands include beautiful feathers and flowers. These hats are amazing to wear to all formal events and are increasingly popular for derbies. The spring is the kick off for the derby and the hats that are worn too it is epic and every woman wants the most memorable hat that is uniquely different from all the others. The above styles are in order from the lines categories of Fall/Winter, Spring/Summer, Cocktail/Wedding, Gentleman, Headbands and Baby Forme Millinery.
BIO-
Forme Millinery is currently featuring a boutique launch of their second brick and motor location, located in Chicago. This will be an exclusive event with an A guest list and an after party at the Hubbard Inn. Forme Millinery hats are also being featured on television including on the Oprah Show as well as local news casting because of the trending style and relevance to the derby which takes place in May.
Millinery has been around for decades, as shown in this 1822 image on the left of a boutique. Jenny keeps this tecnique alive by having workshops where the kraft can be learned and mastered as seen in an advertisment below. The Kentucky Derby and races leading up to it, creates an enormous amount of buzz around the country and numerous derby parties are thrown with a Forme Millinery hat a must have. The company facebook page keeps everyone updated with events, workshops, recent features, and the trending topic.