Hats off to Rosie Norman. The Liverpool-based designer has launched her own millinery company.
Established a few months ago, the firm is already making quite a name for itself among the community. The business, Millinery by Rosie Olivia, provides unique and contemporary hats for a range of occassions.
Twenty-two-year-old Miss Norman, who graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in decorative textiles last year, tells People: "I had to create a collection of hats as part of my final-year project. I knew then that it was to be hats all the way for me."
She undertook a millinery course at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and completed stints with leading hat designers Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones and Victoria Grant in order to learn the trade. She then decided to invest her own money and set up on her own. "When it was my sister's wedding my mum was looking for a hat and there wasn't really anything unique. If you have an occasion, you want something special and trendy to wear for it so I wanted to make that happen. My designs are not just the ordinary feathers. They are all quite whacky and extravagant and I create my own lace fabric, which I use on the majority of the hats."
Ms Norman, who lives in Woolton, says making one piece can take between four and eight hours. Prices range from £80 to £380.
