Justin Smith is a leading British milliner based in London. He creates bespoke millinery under the J Smith Esquire brand for a portfolio of private clients that includes Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Amal Clooney. Smith's hats have been exhibited around the world, and have been acquired by such museums as the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for Hats: An Anthology curated by Stephen Jones. His work is in continuous demand by stylists and photographers for the quality style press. He has been visiting lecturer at London's Royal College of Art and has conducted seminars and teaching workshops for the British Council.
Early life
From 1998 to 2002, Smith was Creative Director and Head of Avant Garde for the Toni & Guy Group. In 2003 he established his own J Smith Esquire hairdressing salon in London's Soho, specialising in conceptual and avant-garde styles, session styling for the style press, advertising campaigns and a large portfolio of private clients that he retains to the present day. During his early career Smith was a British Hairdressing Awards finalist as Avant-Garde Hairdresser of the Year in 2001 and winner of the first prize at the 2000 London Alternative Hair Show. A graduate of the London College of Fashion and Kensington and Chelsea College, Justin gained an MA in Millinery from The Royal College of Art in 2007.
Millinery career
Smith established the J Smith Esquire brand in 2007, following the acclaim of his Royal College of Art graduation collection called Le Cirque Macabre. Sixteen collections mixing couture and ready-to-wear pieces with highly elaborate showpieces, have been produced since the launch of the brand. A new collection is expected to be launched in the first half of 2017. Smith's work upholds the traditions of millinery while seeking continuously to redefine classic headwear. Since 2007 J Smith Esquire has been shown at London, Paris and Milan fashion weeks, alongside new and emerging fashion events such as Rome Couture and Jakarta Fashion Week. He continues to collaborate with highly regarded international designers such as Stella McCartney, Moschino, Manish Arora, Oscar Lawalata, Aganovich, Emilio de la Morena and Aveda. J Smith Esquire has featured in numerous shows and exhibitions such as Hats: An Anthology curated by Stephen Jones for the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, 2009 to 2012, Hedonism at London Fashion Week by the British Fashion Council, three seasons of Alta Roma Limited / Unlimited supported by Sylvia Fendi, the 2010 Vogue Young Talents exhibition in Milan, and the 2009 Fashion in Motion exhibition of selected milliners at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. In 2011 a retrospective exhibition, installation and book launch took place at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, London, supporting the introduction of the Guoman Group bespoke doorman hats made by J Smith Esquire. In 2012 as part of London's Jubilee celebrations, Justin was invited to take part in BTArtbox, transforming a replica phone kiosk, and Hatwalk, commissioned by the Mayor of London, in partnership with BT and Grazia magazine, putting a hat on the statue of Queen Victoria on London's Blackfriars Bridge.
Awards
Smith was awarded the 2016 Generali Future Award, supporting creativity and innovation, by International Talent Support at a live presentation in Trieste, Italy in July 2016. This is the second time Justin has been awarded by International Talent Support, having previously won the Maria Louisa and I-D Styling awards at ITS6 in 2007. His previous awards include Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2011 awarded by the British Council and New Generation sponsorship and inclusion over several years in the Hedonism millinery collective, awarded by the British Fashion Council.
Collections
A list of hat collections produced under the J Smith Esquire brand since 2007. 2017: Gold 2014: Black 2013: Destination 2013: Signature 2012: Elemental 2012: Jubilee 2012: Invincible 2012: Air Squared 2012: Air 2012: Unclassified 2011: Illuminated 2010: Shade 2010: Light 2009: Three 2008: Kaliedoscope 2008: Dance With Me 2007: Le Cirque Macabre
Films
In 2012, Smith created the leather head wraps for Angelina Jolie in Maleficent on which he worked in close collaboration with the actor. Since Maleficent he has expanded his work for cinema to include hats for Jolie and Brad Pitt in By The Sea, for Amanda Seyfried, Kathy Burke and sundry nuns in Pan and for Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander in The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
