Waltraud Reiner is a milliner and drive behind Hatmobile.  She discovered her love of hats when she moved from Austria to Australia in the early 1980s.  As a graduate of a Fashion Design Degree in Austria she had a love of textiles.  She fell into work with Melbourne milliner Magda Urban and trained in Magda’s studio and began her path to millinery.

Her passion for the hat trade has taken her across the globe.  This included working for royal milliner Phillip Somerville and learning from London legend Rose Cory. Following time spent overseas with her young family Waltraud launched her own millinery studio in 1990 in Melbourne.  She established the Melbourne School of Millinery (a division of Kangan Batman TAFE) soon afterward, where she taught for 13 years.

Waltraud looked to explore materials and techniques which led her to expand her business and become a supplier opening Torb & Reiner in the early 1990s. The business was sold in 2016 to Lindsday Whitehead and is now known as Millinery Hub.

Following her experience teaching Millinery at Kangan Tafe in Melbourne, Waltraud began tae her classes on the road. She began holding short workshops interstate and internationally. While travelling via plane allowed for a quick trip she saw an opporutnity to emerse herself in the communities she was visiting and offer them more opportunities by bringing more millinery suppleis with her.  This is how Hatmobile was born. Together, Waltraud and the Hatmobile (named Audrey) travel all over Australia, holding workshops, supplying materials and spending time in remote communities to learn their crafts.