The Maison Michel hatmaking exhibition will open at 19M this weekend During the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine in Paris
Ahead of the exhibition's official opening on September 23, la Galerie du 19M invites the general public to discover Métamorphoses, les chapeaux de Maison Michel starting this weekend as part of the European Heritage Days. A free, unique behind-the-scenes journey into one of the world's most renowned headwear ateliers, celebrating the transformation of raw materials and the virtuosity of the Métiers d'art.
From raw material to headwear
Located within 19M - a space dedicated to preserving and passing on fashion's exceptional savoir-faire - the Métamorphoses exhibition offers an immersive journey into the heart of the Maison Michel workshops. Conceived as a stroll through shapes and textures, it highlights the alchemy between the artisan's hand and the garment in the making, all the way to its finishing touches.
From lime wood drafts to delicate felt, woven straw to satin ribbons, and up to the veil, the exhibition reveals every stage of making a hat. The event shines a light on the entire human chain that brings these pieces to life, reuniting the blockmaker who sculpts the volume, the hatter mastering shaping and structure, the straw-sewer expert in braiding and precision, and the milliner, artisan of ornamentation and finishing details.
The wooden block: the beating heart of creation
The creation process of a hat begins long before the first stitches. It is the blockmaker who shapes the silhouette by carving and sculpting the material directly from a block of lime wood. Today, Maison Michel preserves over 3,000 wooden forms, silent witnesses to nine decades of history and creation. This modular heritage treasure - composed of interchangeable crowns and brims - serves as a living repertoire continuously reinvented through each collection.
“What makes Maison Michel unique is having included the blockmaker in-house, which means we master the entire chain from the very beginning to the finished product. To my knowledge, that doesn't exist anywhere else,” shared Priscilla Royer, Creative Director of Maison Michel, with Connaissance des arts magazine.
Once the wooden block is sculpted, the hatter takes over. Softened by steam, the felt is stretched and hand-molded onto the wood without ever altering its surface. Meanwhile, woven straw is soaked, dried, and manipulated repeatedly until it perfectly molds to the desired line.
Nine decades of excellence
Founded in 1936, Maison Michel has spanned decades crafting exceptional pieces for the biggest names in ready-to-wear and Haute Couture. The House joined CHANEL’s Métiers d’art ecosystem in 1997, before launching its own collections under the Maison Michel brand in 2006. Since 2021, it has been one of the resident ateliers at 19M, the building located at the gates of Paris designed by Rudy Ricciotti to unite fashion's craftsmanship crafts.
The exhibition showcases a vast diversity of silhouettes: berets, fascinators, caps, boaters, broad-brimmed hats, and fedoras stand alongside unique pieces designed for runway shows as well as collaborations with emerging designers. Among the standout pieces is Chanel’s Spring-Summer 2026 Collection, featuring jersey headpieces hugging the contours of the face, adorned with flowers and feathers created in synergy with Maison Lemarié, another resident Métier d'art at 19M.
Fulfilling La Galerie du 19M's mission to offer free access to artisanal culture, the exhibition comes with a varied range of cultural programs. Guests of all ages are invited to move from spectators to active participants through workshops allowing them to handle tools and materials such as felt, straw, and ribbons. Talks and panel discussions with artisans, alongside guided tours, will offer deeper insight into the challenges of preserving and transmitting these rare techniques.