Who We Are

The Milliners Guild, Inc is a not-for-profit organization of milliners, small business owners, and students who specialize in the design and production of handmade headwear. The group is committed to increasing the public profile of millinery as well as the public's awareness and interest in millinery products.

The Guild is dedicated to working together to support our suppliers in order to ensure a steady flow of raw materials. Through a collective website, special events, and educational seminars the guild will provide consistent communication about this thriving and contemporary industry to the public, press, and students of the craft.

The group is committed to increasing the public profile of millinery as well as the public's awareness and interest in millinery products. The Guild is dedicated to working together to support our suppliers in order to ensure a steady flow of raw materials. Through a collective website, special events, and educational seminars the guild will provide consistent communication about this thriving and contemporary industry to the public, press, and students of the craft.

Membership is only open for residents and/or citizens of the United States.

Our Mission

Friends The Milliners Guild was started in 2007 in response to the recent closing of a well known hat contractor, as well as some millinery suppliers. Linda Pagan gathered together the milliners who made hats for her shop, as well as other New York area milliners, to discuss the future of the hat making business and to provide a space for milliners to gather. While hat suppliers were closing, hat sales were increasing, and there was concern about how to manage business in this new environment. About 40 milliners showed up for that first meeting in The Hat Shop, and the Guild was established. The group identified three main goals: to share resources, exchange ideas, and support one another; to promote hats and hat wearing to the general public; and to create camaraderie among milliners who partake in this very niche business.

The first Milliners Guild exhibition, One Block, Many Milliners, was held at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) for one night only. The show was a great success, and news travelled fast about this transitory experience. Since then, the Guild has continued to expand and add new members and, in 2010, the Guild became a non-profit corporation.