The RARE vintage Interview: Krisztina Reisini. Milliner Extraordinaire.

I am forever fascinated with creative, knowledgeable people - the things they make and do, their stories and the things they know.  I could listen to them for hours and hours...  I am fortunate to have met many exceptionally talented people at RARE vintage and in life and thought it was time to introduce a new series to the RARE vintage blog: The RARE vintage Interview.

I have been having a major hat moment recently.  I don't know why but I have started buying hats and the more frivolous and fun the better!  Krisztina Reisini, a great friend of our family, started a company, Kreisicouture, a line of hats that are 'objets d'art' hand crafted in her Milan atelier.  

Here is my inaugural RARE vintage Interview.  Read on...  I know you will enjoy it!  Thank you Krisztina!!

Juliana Cairone: You started designing hats fairly recently - was this always a secret dream?

Krisztina Reisini:  Yes, I started approximately three years ago and it was something that just happened.  Inspired by a wonderful one of a kind knit bag I had just picked up from one of my favorite designers, Daniella Gregis, which I had turned upside down on my head thinking it would make a great hat.  I then had a delicious dinner accompanied by a great bottle of red wine and you know the Italian saying, "Vino Veritas" (in wine there is truth!!!!!)

And that evening I decided to start making hats!!

All photos by Juliana Cairone for RARE vintage.

JC: Did you apprentice with anyone?

KR: No, however as I have worn hats most of my life I have worked with milliners around the world making hats for myself.

JC: Was there a hat maker who inspired you?

KR: Headpieces of all kinds have inspired me throughout my life: from Genghis Khan,Carmen Miranda, the great couturiers of the 50s and 60s, Edith Heads brilliant creations in the great days of Hollywood to the runway fantasies of Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones.

JC: Which hat designer or designers do you admire?

KR: Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Balmain, Christian Dior, Fortuny, Coco Chanel, John Galliano, Romeo Gigli, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons, Jean Paul Gaultier and Rick Owens.  There are so many great talents past and present in the world.

JC: If you could put one of your hats on someone from the 1930s, when everyone wore hats, who would it be?

KR: Greta Garbo, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Myrna Loy, Mae West.

JC: Who would you love to see wearing one of your hats now?

KR: HRH Queen Elizabeth, Daphne Guiness, Caroline of Monaco, Kate Middleton - the Duchess of Cambridge, Raijna Jordania, Iman, Carla Bruni, Victoire de Castelaine, Uma Thurman, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Damien Hirst, Bottero, Johnny Depp, Qincy Jones AND THE LIST JUST GOES ON AND ON...

JC: You have lived in Milan, Paris, London and New York.  Do you think that has influenced your sense of style?  Do you feel a style infinity with one of those cities more then the others?

KR: There are absolutely different cultural fashion influences in every city and country in the world and it is most unfortunate that both men and women stopped wearing hats for the past 40 years.  GOD BLESS THE UK!

JC: I have always thought a woman looks very alluring in a hat, a little veil, you can put a hat on  when you are having a bad hair day...  Do you think we could ever go back to wearing a hat more often - not every day - but I feel when you choose to wear a hat, you choose to make a big statement - and maybe that is not so easy for most women...

KR: Absolutely wearing any headpiece changes the way you feel and the way people look at you.  It is the last accessory that finishes a look.  Wearing a headpiece, fascinates and attracts attention.

JC: You use some vintage material.  Why?

KR: I love vintage materials as they seem to have a life of their own and the quality, color and feel are totally different then what one finds today in the market.  I also like to use technological and ecological materials as there is so much new creativity today.

JC: Do you see yourself as more of a couture designer creating special things for special occasions or would you love to be more commercial and eventually do a capsule collection for a fast fashion store?

KR: I love and am challenged by all the different areas where one can create.  Haute couture remains the summum for being able to create freely express one's creativity without budgetary limitations however it is also a challenge and great fun to create whimsical pieces that can be industrialized for different markets.  I am also currently working on a capsule men's collection which launched in June that I am having a lot of fun with.

JC: Krisztina you look so amazing in every hat you put on.  Some people feel they are 'hat people' and others that they are not.  Do you have any words of advice for those that feel they are not hat people?

KR: GO FOR IT AS YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON A LOT OF FUN!!!

JC: And finally, in your showroom, I picked out the most expensive hat - a bad habit of mine - can you tell me why that hat is more than the others?

KR: The hat you selected 'GIO' is made from an old Austrian wooden form and takes approximately five days to complete through a handmade process that I will take you though the next time we meet.

THE EXTRAS:

JC: Favorite obscure fact about Milan?
KR: There is a turtle named 'Speedy' in the garden of the restaurant La Brisa.

JC: What is your greatest extravagance?
KR: Only one?  I was blessed and born into a life of extravagances and hope to have only more... of 1 1/2 hour massages, a personal trainer, healers, psychics, astrologers, Shamans, greta hair dressers, manicures and pedicures, beautiful vintage hand me downs from my gorgeous mother, a chauffeur driven car at my disposal, first class travel, wonderful, loyal caring friends and invitations to their wonderful homes all over the world which I unfortunately do not visit often enough.

JC: What topic could you talk about for days on end?
KR: Food and great sex!

JC: What is on your bedside table?
KR: Scented candles, incense, mountains of magazines and books that seem to multiply faster then I have time to read, a very old, worn statue of a Madonna that I could never have restored, a large Chinese lacquered container filled with various sundry bric a brack, three Italian 7th century candelabras where I hang necklaces when I am too tired to put them away.  My collection of teddy bears, and wonderful pictures of my family and loved ones.  I am a very lucky girl to have so much room for all of these objects that share my most intimate moments every day.

JC: What vice could you not live without?
KR: A delicious drinkino (a little drink) at the end of the day.

JC: If you could meet anyone for a drink at the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz for a cocktail, who would it be?
KR: Hemingway of course and we are all going to have to wait another three years since they have just closed the Ritz for a major face lift and are even planning on moving the bar!!!

For more information on Kreiscouture please contact:

Kreiscouture
Via Tortona 14
Milan Italy 20144
39 02 49517273
info@kreisicouture.com