Lot 34: Stephen Jones | Straw Top-Hat

An original Stephen Jones black mini-straw top hat with a netted veil includes the original hatbox from the designer's "Time Machine" collection.

A glossy black straw top hat with a red grosgrain ribbon band and bow accented with a black netted veil, there is an elasticated chin strap to secure the hat. A Stephen Jones Millinery label is sewn at the interior. 

Stephen Jones is a British milliner who has collaborated with many designers Vivienne Westwood, Claude Montana, Thome Brown, Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli, Rei Kawakubo, John Galliano for Dior and Margiela, Marc Jacobs, and Olivier Rousteing for Balmain. Jones's fantastical designs fuse traditional millinery techniques with avant-garde concepts. In 2009 the designer curated an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum titled "Hats, An Anthology by Stephen Jones." His popular commercial designs made for Dior have become highly collectible. Jones began collaborating with Dior in 1996 in 2020 became the house's director of millinery. 

This item is from the estate of Nicole Giacondina DeFrancesco, an Emmy-nominated hairstylist who worked in film and television. DeFrancesco an accredited hair stylist worked on various productions: Desperate Housewives, Parks and Recreation, Big Love, Star Trek, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. DeFrancesco is credited for creating Bree Van De Kamp's (played by Marcia Cross) iconic red flip hairstyle in Desperate Housewives. A talented hair stylist whose eye for unique and eccentric fashion led her to collect avant-garde designs by Stephen Jones, Vivienne Westwood, and John Galliano. Her style carries her wit, charm, and dramatic flair. DeFrancesco passed away on January 17, 2013.


PROVENANCE From the Estate of Nicole DeFrancesco