> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # INTERVIEW: Artist Milliners co-founder Barnaby Horn on the future of hats as art, manifesting a collab with Mel B, and upcoming exhibition, A Hat at the Void - URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-artist-milliner-co-founder-barnaby-horn-on-the-future-of-hats-as-art-manifesting-a-collab-with-mel-b-and-upcoming-exhibition-a-hat-at-the-void/ - Published: 2026-10-23T12:18:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T13:07:02.000Z - Description: "They will leave wanting to do a PhD in hats." - Author: Dale Melita - Tags: Culture, Q&As, UK, Pride, Features & Longread Award-winning milliner and visual artist [**Barnaby Horn**](https://www.instagram.com/barnabyhorn/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) has built a name for himself by reimagining classic hat shapes through a distinctly queer lens, blending craftsmanship, storytelling and art in equal measure. Based in **London**, his creations have caught the attention of everyone from **Jake Shears** (from the **Scissor Sisters**) and **Flesh** from **Drag Race UK** to **David Beckham** and **Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester**! (Birgitte is married to **Prince Richard**, **Duke of Gloucester**, one of **King George V**'s grandsonsbtw). Earlier this year, Barnaby teamed up with his friend and fellow milliner [**Naomi Larh**](https://www.instagram.com/naomilarh?ref=scenemag.co.uk) founded [**Artist Milliners**](https://www.artistmilliners.co.uk/?ref=scenemag.co.uk). A community of transgressive hat makers, queer, feminist, working class, obsessive, self-taught, over and under-skilled, under-credentialed, intuitive, traumatised, excessive and unclassifiable makers to engage with the art of millinery. Ahead of hosting their debut exhibition *A Hat at the Void*, which brings together the work of eight artists, I caught up with Barnaby to yap about the exhibition of course, but also celebrity clients, queer creativity, drag, dream collaborations and why hats deserve a place in galleries as much as they do on people's heads. Let's dive in....head first! DALEYPOP: Hey Barnaby! For our readers who aren't familiar with you or your work (yet), can you introduce yourself? BARNABY HORN: Of course, I’m Barnaby Horn. I’m an artist and milliner based in **East London**. I’m interested in telling stories through the presentation of objects and exploring how the hat is special in its ability to perform, disguise and reveal information. DALEYPOP: We'll get into your love of hat making soon but I just want to say that love that before your award winning milliner era, you were a drag artist in [**Manchester** **Gay Village**](https://www.instagram.com/canalstreetmedia/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), right?! What was your drag name and are there elements of that persona that still find their way into your work today would you say? BARNABY HORN: Yes! I had two drag eras. One was a scary mask wearing bimbo called **Bamby**. So called because my mum got shot by a farmer, and then there was **Minty from Leeds**. Minty was more of a surreal stand up experiment turned oddball table top dancer. In this era I dressed up as objects quite often, carving face holes into **Henry** hoovers, cleaner’s buckets and mini fridges....My favourite trick was asking the audience if they would let me restart my number over and over until they said no. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/B44CefsFsij/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by minty from leeds (@mintylds)](https://www.instagram.com/p/B44CefsFsij/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > Then I’d ask if they'd let me start over if I did so naked, and on fire. Compromise is a beautiful thing. DALEYPOP: Well you wear a lot of creative hats (pun intended) as both a milliner and visual artist. Which comes more naturally to you or do they go hand in hand? BARNABY HORN: I see myself as a writer working through different materials. I basically only tell surreal stories and they come out as hats, sculptural works, drag, poems or diary entries. It’s really important that I’ve trained in couture millinery and studied English Literature because these have become the tools of my trade. DALEYPOP: You describe your millinery work as queering classic hat shapes which is absolutely brilliant! What does that mean to you personally and do you love to challenge people's expectations of what a hat can be? BARNABY HORN: I love subverting the formality of the top hat, historical uniformity of the bowler and masculinity of the cowboy hat. I love making deviant hats and tinkering with hat language. > Fragile archetypes of millinery are coded into our understanding of society and so are ripe for queering. DALEYPOP: What first made you fall in love with hat making then? BARNABY HORN: There was a moment when I realised that, because hats contain so much yet take up so little space, they were like poems or aphorisms. It’s true if the fashion collection is the novel then the hat is the poem. DALEYPOP: Were you the creative kid at school or did your artistic side take a little longer to reveal itself? BARNABY HORN: I was creative with language but I never studied art at school. I was lucky to be a bookworm from very young and kind of learnt to self teach. When I went from my BA in English Literature to my MA in Fashion I knew I’d have to flex different muscles but I carried over the same creative identity. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbsevmeAc3J/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 (@artistmilliners)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbsevmeAc3J/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) DALEYPOP: Congrats on co-founding Artist Milliners with your friend and fellow milliner (Naomi Larh) earlier this year by the way! That's huge! I think it's obvious that you're both super passionate about creating opportunities for others but I'd love to know more about the friendship behind it all if you don't mind me asking....how did you and Naomi meet and what inspired you both to build a community that champions the next generation of hat makers? BARNABY HORN: We met at a Christmas fayre type event at [**Cockpit Studios**](https://www.instagram.com/cockpitstudios/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)in London. > I was selling little cashmere berets with the Cerne Abbas Giantembroidered on and we talked about English folklore. I think we bonded over our creative practices and want to stretch millinery into something less classifiable. DALEYPOP: Artist Milliners champions people who don't always fit the traditional fashion mould, right? Do you have any advice that you'd give to your fellow creatives struggling to find their place in the industry? BARNABY HORN: It’s really hard to find support especially if you’re not able to neatly define your practice as fashion. It’s useful to pretend the industry doesn’t exist and work out why you’re really making things. Artists working in different mediums with similar values and intentions can be a more natural community than people making similar objects. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DdnwuNAgDWv/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 (@artistmilliners)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DdnwuNAgDWv/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) DALEYPOP: Talking of hugeness by the way....the title of your upcoming exhibition **A Hat at the Void** is wonderfully intriguing. Can you tell us more?! Where do we get tickets?! BARNABY HORN: A Hat at the Void implies a hat dropped or, for some reason, left behind. It’s a stage direction that establishes the hat as the physical aftermath of a multidimensional event. The exhibition presents artists working at the creative and technical boundaries of their crafts so the works on show will hopefully challenge our visitors. The exhibition is open over **Halloween** weekend and you can get tickets at [artistmilliners.co.uk](https://www.artistmilliners.co.uk/?ref=scenemag.co.uk). > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeHXa8WAJsM/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 (@artistmilliners)](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeHXa8WAJsM/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) DALEYPOP: Can you tell us more about the artists' work that will be presented or can you not spill anything yet? BARNABY HORN: We’ve been so lucky to assemble [**Shan Hua**](https://www.instagram.com/shanhua.me/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), [**Justin Smith**](https://www.instagram.com/jsmithesquire/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), [**Angelica Ellis**](https://www.instagram.com/angelica%5Fellis/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), [**Miller**](https://www.instagram.com/jomillerstudio/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), [**Lilac**](https://www.instagram.com/lilacemanuel?ref=scenemag.co.uk) and [**Akiş Ka**](https://www.instagram.com/akiskaaa/?ref=scenemag.co.uk). Everyone is showing new or reexamined work that I don’t want to preempt. You’ll really have to come and see! We’re presenting work that confronts mainstream approaches to drag, scent, millinery and so much more. The thread that ties the works together is experimentation and interpretation of the void. The third character in the relationship between body and object. DALEYPOP: Do you think people who have never given hats much thought will leave the exhibition seeing them differently? BARNABY HORN: They will leave wanting to do a PhD in hats. ![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Barnaby-Horn-Tiger-hat-by-by-Jack-Weir.jpg) A top hat with a wild side! Barnaby Horn's Tiger Hat is just one example of how the award-winning milliner reimagines traditional forms through creativity andcraftsmanship. 📸 [Jack Weir](https://www.instagram.com/jackweirphoto/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) DALEYPOP: We've all heard someone say I'm not a hat person. I've probably said it before actually because I've got big ears! Is that actually true (the not a hat person part) or have they just not found their soulmate hat yet? BARNABY HORN: Big ears are cute and should be protected. Maybe people who don’t like hats are subconsciously milliners with better hats in mind. DALEYPOP: Yesssss! So you've created hats for Jake Shears, David Beckham, and the Duchess of Gloucester. Oh and Flesh from **Drag Race**! That's so cool. Is there a dream client still on your wish list? > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ497-dCviu/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by BARNABY HORN (@barnabyhorn)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ497-dCviu/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) BARNABY HORN: I’m manifesting a collab with the Queen of Leeds, **Mel B**. I became obsessed with big cats last year after reading *Blonde* (by **Joyce Carol Oates**) and about **Marilyn Monroe**’s childhood toy tiger. I love how it was a source of comfort to Marilyn but seemed to attract danger in the story. Tiger and leopard prints started to represent the things we simultaneously run towards and away from in my work and I’d love to talk to Mel B about her relationship with leopard print. I recently dressed **Kaiden Ford** in a tiger top hat for **Royal Ascot** and designed a leopard print beret for HRH the Duchess of Gloucester. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKz1SdWICNa/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by BARNABY HORN (@barnabyhorn)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DKz1SdWICNa/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) DALEYPOP: I'm super keen to ask you about last year when you accepted the *Enterprise Young Entrepreneur Award* at **The King's Awards for Enterprise** and thanking **King Charles** (**III**) for his commitment to preserving millinery and craft in the UK, face to face! How did that happen and were you nervous meeting **HM King** face to face?! Was he lovely? BARNABY HORN: I actually had a shift at **Dalston Superstore** right after I was due to accept the award so I approached the day with that in mind. I wore a suit borrowed from my grandad who had only worn it once before (at my christening) and had my cargos in my bag ready for my shift. I hadn’t really mentioned it to anyone until the award was in my hand then I took a selfie on the tube and told my mum. HM King was very engaging and warm and I met **Kate Winslet** and **Meryl Streep** at the ceremony too! > My main memory was drinking 0% Prosecco and talking to Alan Titchmarsh about straw. DALEYPOP: I just want to say congratulations on all of your success so far and I'm genuinely super excited to follow your work and see what you do next! Looking ahead though, what excites you most....growing your own label, championing the next generation through Artist Milliners or is there maybe another dream project still waiting in the wings? Oh and one more question.....who's your crush of the day? (I always ask this question soz). BARNABY HORN: Thank you Dale! That’s very sweet. I’m excited to see what collaborations grow from Artist Milliners and the new objects we can help into existence. > Objects that are creatively and technically linked to millinery should show up in fine art spaces the same way metalwork and ceramics do. I’m excited to challenge the traditional, museum like presentation of hats in cultural institutions by encouraging visitors to see them not just as historical artefacts displayed behind glass, but as living, expressive forms of art, identity and storytelling. My crush of the day is **Kane Welsh** from **Bad Boy Chiller Crew**. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dervr3lTZLh/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by BBCC Bad Boy Chiller Crew (@badboychillercrew)](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dervr3lTZLh/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) Discover a world where art, fashion and imagination meet at **A Hat at the Void*, the debut exhibition from Artist Milliners. Open across Halloween weekend, this thought provoking showcase brings together eight artists pushing the boundaries of millinery, craft and contemporary art. Tickets are available [HERE](https://www.artistmilliners.co.uk/event-list?ref=scenemag.co.uk) with free entry and optional donations helping to support this exciting new creative collective.🎩✨