THE DESIGNER

WHERE IS YOUR ACCENT FROM?
I was born in Holland, but my parents moved to Paris when I was a few months old. So culturally I'm French. When I was a kid I spoke Dutch to my mother and French to my father. When I speak English the Dutch accent takes over.

WHERE DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL?
My parent were true bohemians and they vaguely homeschooled my sister and me. As a teenager I was trained as a ballet dancer. I was determined to become a prima ballerina. It was quite a shock when I realized I didn't have any talent. So I stopped and soon after got married.

WHY DID YOU COME TO NEW YORK?
I was widowed young and needed to start fresh somewhere else. I like big ugly cities -- Paris is not for me!

WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOU STARTED YOUR OWN BRAND?
My first job in  New York was as a project designer for a craft magazine. Embroidery, knitting, candle making, that sort of thing. Later I designed knitwear for an amazing Uruguayan yarn company that hand-spun and hand-dyed its own wool. I did textile conservation for a bit, but that was far too scientific for my taste. Then I worked as a magazine editor for a while, which gave me the opportunity to work with the greats of the time like Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino.

WHEN DID YOU START LOLA HATS?
In December 1989 in a small storefront in the East Village . It was funky but chic. Loved it! Then I moved to a larger store in the Flatiron District, and now we are in a huge, sunny studio in Bushwick with an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline.

WHERE DID YOU LEARN HAT MAKING?
At the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, at night, while I was Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Knitting.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO HATS?
The love of dying crafts. I admire basket weavers, glass blowers, people who restore ivory piano keys. Hatmaking falls into that category.

WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR INSPIRATION?
Nowhere in particular. The mess in my studio inspires me. Two things that lie side by side can suddenly appear as a design. But really the best ideas come from working, the more you work the more ideas you get.

WHAT'S YOUR DREAM?
I would love to design athletic headwear. There’s so much room for improvement. There are such great sneakers, but the head has totally been neglected.

FAVORITE COLOR?
None. Every color is fantastic depending on the shade it is paired with. In theory, I'm not a fan of purple, but purple matched with a rich yellow or burnt orange is beautiful. A red flower is never just red. In nature one color is many!

Photo Christoper Starbody, courtesy of M. Patmos.