The 2025 honorary award from fashion magazine Costumes went to hat designer and milliner Mona Strand, who passed away this summer at the age of 60. Her two sons accepted the award. Norway’s most famous hat designer, Mona Strand, was honored after her death.
Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were among Strand’s regular customers. The milliner passed away in August at the age of 60. The National Museum has acquired her works and featured them in Vogue Scandinavia, Vogue Arabia, and Vogue Portugal. She was also awarded a 10-year artist fellowship, which gave her a unique opportunity to immerse herself in artistic processes.
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Milliner Mona Strand created hats for the rich and famous, as well as for anyone else who desired one. The beloved craftswoman, also known as Hat-Mona, has indeed refuted Coco Chanel’s statement that “the hat would not be democratized.” Chanel started her career as a milliner. When photographer Douglas Kirkland spent three weeks shadowing the couturier, including images later used for his visual memoir, Coco Chanel: Three Weeks/1962, he never once saw her remove her hat.
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“People wearing hats have a more enjoyable life,” said Mona. Mona Strand’s hats are more than just headgear; they are also pure works of art in themselves, NTB wrote when the prize winner was interviewed in 2020. The milliner had a master’s degree in sculptural hats and exhibited her hats at art exhibitions and museums in the Nordic countries, England, and Germany. She also contributed hats to theater productions and TV productions in Norway.
Norway’s Most Famous Hat Designer Honored After Her Death, Tor Kjolberg reporting.
Feature image (top) © Trude Henrichsen.