Can you educate us on the ways a haberdasher, milliner and hatmaker are different?
To me, a Haberdasher is an antiquated term for a person who sells men’s clothing. A Milliner is a person who designs, makes and sells hats primarily for women. A Hatmaker is a person who makes and sells hats. Depending on who I’m talking with, I will call myself a milliner, hat designer or hatmaker. Seniors are familiar with the term. So are the English, since it’s a strong artform there. A lot of people aren’t familiar with the term “Milliner” or “Millinery.” Millinery refers to the art of hat design. When I was in high school in Iceland, I wanted to be a fashion designer. By some crazy precognition, I made a joke to the school paper that I wanted to be a “Milliner” since I had just learned the word and thought that sounded cool. They printed that I wanted to be a “Millionaire.” What do you find to be the biggest challenge of being a fashion designer in the San Francisco Bay Area? You can’t be insular if you want to grow your wholesale business. You need to get yourself to New York Ci
