Fiona Cooper is a Melbourne-based milliner and owner of the brand Millinery Laa Laa. She graduated from Kangan TAFE with a Certificate IV in Millinery.

Encouraged by Rose Hudson, she became Secretary of Millinery Australia, serving from 2020 to 2022, before ascending to President in 2023 and contributing to the industry’s growth.

In 2025, Fiona won the Lillian Frank Millinery Award with her visually striking GRAPHICA design, which linked her graphic design background to quilting traditions through five coloured stripes in navy, khaki, amethyst, grey, and white, balancing and contrasting with each other.

In 2022, she placed in the Top 10 of the Millinery Australia Design Award “Counter Balance” with her piece “3 Sisters”, graphically depicting the bond between her and her twin sisters.  Fiona has shared her pieces as part of a collaborative Pop-up Shop, Millinery Headquarters.

This podcast is hosted and produced by Lauren Ritchie and edited by Maria Volkova for MillineryInfo

In this episode, we are joined by the three winners of the 2025 Australia Millinery Award – Rebecca Share, Tracey Tau, and Angela Sullivan – three remarkable designers shaping the face of contemporary Australian millinery. They share their personal sources of inspiration, their choice of materials and techniques, and insights into their creative process.

Winner of both First Prize and the Patron’s Pick for her whimsical yet highly technical piece “Pigs Do Fly”, Rebecca Share is a celebrated milliner known for her bold, sculptural designs. Her work has gained international acclaim, with bespoke headpieces featured on Jennifer Lopez’s 2019 U.S. tour. A two-time MYER Fashions on the Field Millinery Award winner, Rebecca also leads hatatelier.com, mentoring the next generation of milliners through online courses and masterclasses.

Melbourne-based milliner Tracey Tau, founder of TOOALI Millinery, blends modern elegance with craftsmanship inspired by her early years in the racing industry. She now leads The Essential Hat and serves as Vice President of Millinery Australia, supporting the growth and visibility of Australian hat makers worldwide. This year, she took second prize in the Australia Millinery Award with her sculptural headpiece “We’re Off to Paris!”

Angela Sullivan shares her millinery journey – how her family’s love of craft and her background as a hairdresser led her to become a milliner and a fellow member of Millinery Australia, taking third place in this year’s competition. Her piece “Party on the Lawn” combined playfulness, exceptional skill, and lightness to ensure comfortable wear. She has also earned multiple distinctions, including Best in Show at the 2025 Ekka.

This podcast is hosted and produced by Lauren Ritchie and edited by Maria Volkova for MillineryInfo

Bronwyn Shooks returns to the podcast to share with us about her 2024 Millinery Australia Design Award-winning piece.  Find the first podcast with Bronwyn here, where she shares about her millinery education and mentor Jean Caroll.  In this episode, Brownyn speaks about creating the piece ‘A Galaxy of Wisdom’.

Brownyn is a theatrical millinery based in Sydney who has created pieces for musicals including Hamilton both the Australian and international tour, Mary Poppins & Juliet, Gaslight for Queensland Theatre Company just to name a few.

Cynthia Jones-Bryson returns to the podcast to share about her recent winning piece for the Lillian Frank AM MBE Millinery Award.  This is the third time Cynthia has won this prestigious award.  Cynthia works from her studio in Jerrabomberra which is where she created the piece “Sway” with a recycled plastic material and dyed the material to create the handmade silk flowers for this award-winning design.  As part of the prize, Cynthia attended the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Gala taking along fellow milliner Catherine Kelly.  The piece will now acquired by the Gallery with thanks to the Victorian Racing Club (VRC).

Since we last spoke with Cynthia she has been sharing her skills through teaching at Hatters Millinery Supplies and exploring new techniques.  Her piece  ‘Ruffled? Absolutely’ was awarded second place in the Millinery Australia Design Award in 2023.

Would you like to hear more?  Listen to the first Millinery.Info episode with Cynthia here.

Nicholette Pottier is a milliner based in Newton in Sydney Australia.  In 2023 she won MIMC (Melbourne International Millinery Competition) with her piece “Prismatic”.  The theme for the competition was what Jean Shrimpton SHOULD have worn when she attended the Derby Day race meeting during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in 1965.

Nicholette creates a sculptural artistic headwear designer which is reflected in her work.  She has been acknowledged with top marks awarded top marks in her studies at Ultimo Tafe while studying millinery with Connie Hart and costome with Roslyn O’Dell.

Completing studies at Design Centre Enmore, she has worked alongside tutor Penelope Gervaise on exploring millinery in the world of wearable art.

Based in Sydney Nicholette works in a collaborative studio space that is part of The Beautiful & Useful Studio.  They specialise in large-scale immersive art experiences and community workshops.

Serena Lindeman is a milliner based in the iconic Nicholas Building.  She has forged her place as a key leader in the Australian millinery industry through her millinery work and role as a millinery educator at Kangan Institute.

She found millinery when she was living in London and working as an Art Teacher.  She began taking millinery classes and studied at the London School of Fashion before securing a role with the legendary Edwina Ibbotson.

On her return to Australia made her mark with a piece that won a fashion on the field competition and it was described that the piece “oozed effortless seek”.

She returned to her teacher skillset when she joined Kangan Institute as a specialist trade.  Her knowledge of the trade and teaching skill has seen many graduates through the course and into the industry.

Serena found a home for her millinery business in the Nicholas Building.  She has collaborated with well-known local designers and with her own design won the inaugural Myer Millinery Award at Flemington Racecourse in 2006.

She is known for her mastering of the art of flat pattern men’s hats creating them in collaboration with other local businesses.  As a registered hat repairer with Akubra Serena revives these widely known hats from many various states to give them a new life.

Amelda Millinery is an Australian label designed and made by Canberra-based milliner Rebecca Carswell.  Rebecca began studying Millinery as a hobby when she lived in Wagga in 2005.  She went on to extend her skills with lessons with Donna Lewis, Paris Kyne and Sandy Buchanan before completing a Certificate in Millinery with Rose Organ at the Wagga TAFE.

Rebecca works with many traditional and natural materials and is known for work with straw braids and techniques used to combine them to create unique patterns and textures.  Her work was recognised when she won the 2015 MAArvelous Millinery, the Millinery Association of Australia Design Award and second runner-up in the 2018 Victorian Racing Club Millinery Fashions on the Field Millinery Award.

She has created some stunning pieces for the Spring Racing Carnival for some Fashions on the Field entrants for the digital and in person competitions.  She connects with her clients online and word of mouth is a key component of developing her business.

In 2022 she was the winner of the Hattember Competition which Hatters Millinery Supplies hosts.  The theme for the section was “In your wildest Dreams” and Rebecca created a piece Tramonto which translates to “sunset” inspired by holidays in Venice.

Faye Partridge was the winner of the 2022 MIMC Competition with her aqua blue piece Wedding Heaven.  The award piece was designed in response to the theme Mother of the Bride …… and Bridegroom of course.  This year the MIMC Competition saw entrants make a piece to be worn with a Vivienna Lorikeet Designs dress that were chosen for their colour and style diversity.

Coming to millinery as a second career Faye shares with us her journey of beginning her millinery career learning from Waltraud Reiner and Louise Macdonald to today with her passion for material exploration and her time at The Essential Hat on High Street in Prahran.

For almost 30 years, Louise Macdonald has worked as a milliner creating leading fashion hats that are considered the ultimate in beauty and style.  She works from her studio in the iconic Nicholson Building in Melbourne’s CBD.  Louise is a well-respected international millinery tutor.  She hosts classes in her studio and presents techniques she has developed on Hat Academy.

Louise began her millinery career while living in London and undertook training with Rose Cory.   She went onto create hats and bonnets for movies and on TV productions, including BBC’s Pride and Prejudice and Merchant Ivory’s Howards End while working at Cosprop.  When she returned to Melbourne where she began to establish her leading millinery techniques. As she developed her style she also attended international events which lead to her founding Millinery.Info to showcase millinery across the globe.

Working in the rag trade area of Flinders Lane Louise has collaborated with many local stores and designers. She creates a collection each season which is available on her website and in person at her studio.

Lauren J Ritchie is a Melbourne-based milliner who you will recognise as the host of the Millinery.Info Podcast series.  She is the President of Millinery Association of Australia and Editor at The Hat Magazine with editor-in-chief Elly Stemerdink.

Lauren discovered her passion for Millinery when she attended a short course in Millinery with Elizabeth Hemsley at Riverina Institute of TAFE in Albury during her final year of High School.  She moved to Melbourne to complete her tertiary studies, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Science – Fashion Design at RMIT and Certificate II, III & IV in Millinery at Kangan Batman Institute under Paris Kyne and Serena Lindeman.

From 2011 until 2017, she worked for well-respected Melbourne Milliner and founder of Millinery.Info Louise Macdonald. In 2018, she spent time in London working for Jane Taylor London and Edwina Ibbotson Millinery. During this time she took up the position of editor and content creator for The Hat Magazine and Hatlines.

A proud member of the Millinery Association of Australia since 2014, Lauren was elected as a member of the committee, Secretary for the Association in 2016 and 2017 then was elected to the role of President in 2021. She describes this as a wonderful opportunity to work alongside fellow members of the local Australian Millinery industry.

Since launching her brand Lauren J Ritchie she has produced her own imagery working to promote her collections with her sister Erin modelling and photographers James Christie and Ben Christie Media.

This episode is hosted by Lisa Watt of Lisa Hughes Millinery with contributions from Felicity Northeast and edited by James Christie.