A new destination for Nelly’s hats

1 month to discover Montréal City.
A French speaking capital!

Nelly spends a month in Montréal. The French speaking capital of Quebec.
Last December, Nelly Bichet and her hats were "Guest Stars" at the huge fine craft exhibition “Salon des Métiers d’Art du Quebec”.
Imagine 350 exhibitors over 22 days at the Bonnaventure Hall in the heart of Montréal City. The show was a great opportunity to meet Canadian women and get to know them. Before going, I imagined that because of the cold weather every one would wear a hat there. And it’s true. Everyone needs a hat when it’s -18°C!
I met a lot of very nice and enthusiastic people, most of them in love with France, knowing and appreciating our old country. My winter collection was very successful, especially my felt hats with their lovely colours and retro-shapes.
It was a nice surprise when I had the chance to meet IMA, a famous Québecoise singer. She fell in love with my hats and chose two of them for this winter.
While shopping I saw some wonderful fur chapka hats or "toques". It seems that making hats with all sorts of natural fur is a Canadian speciality.

New York with a hat box

Nelly discovers New York and meets new fans of her hats at "The Box at the Train"
I arrived on the 18th of September 2010 at JFK airport with: one big hatbox, one small suitcase and plenty of hope, curiosity and excitement! For three days, the sun shone as if it were lighting the road to follow in this unknown country. I settled in at the Terminal Warehouse on the Sunday, a beautiful brick building, overlooking the Hudson River. The view was fabulous!

The fair was focused, intimate enough with a quality selection and very interested visitors. I met lots of people and discovered how the American public are seduced by my “French touch”. The following days brought orders, contacts with journalists, students, as well as plenty of tips on what to see while exploring wonderful New York City over the following days.

“The Box at the Train” fair suits my products. My first visit there was exciting and it was great to make so many contacts. This part of the USA appears to be a promising export market for my hats and I now plan to sell directly to the stores I met. American women seem willing to invest more in stylish headwear and are ready to buy my more expensive designs.

For Saint Valentine’s day, Thierry Soufflard, author of the successful book The best places to kiss in Paris (published by Parigramme) approached the milliner Nelly Bichet. Their collaboration has given birth toHat for two, the first ever collection of hats for lovers.
Marie-Antoinette had a tall ship hat, Dali designed a shoe hat for Elsa Chiaparelli. And she herself created a inkpot hat. Today, Soufflard&Bichet have conceived the first head wear for two.
So what can this be ? Bespok works. These lovers hat come apart as easily as they fit together. Thanks to the Velcro, zips, poppers... As many fastenings as you need to have fun under a hat.
For the first time in the History of fashion, these works of art to be presented in Paris on Saint Valentine’s day will enable lovers all over the world, to remain together after their embrace.

The debut of Hat for two begins with 5 originals models made from diverse materials (lace, fur, felt, leather...). The first collection also consists of hats, skins, caps, bonnets...)

Nelly was in London for Pure

Nelly Bichet was in London from the 1st to the 3rd of August with a fabulous collection of new hats to dazzle visitors at Pure.

Nelly was delighted to meet you or to see you again at Pure on stand L12 in the French pavilion where she had been showing her collection for summer 2011.

Highly sophisticated, her new creations feature luxury fabrics including silk and horsehair and intense colours of coral, lichen, ultramarine and violet.