PROFILE

Karen Henriksen MA (RCA) is a milliner, artist and designer-maker.
She works from her studio at Cockpit Bloomsbury in the heart of London, where she established her practice in 2005.

Her work incorporates story-telling, and a sense of ‘taking a line for a walk’ - whether through a singular approach to pattern-cutting, the lyrical playfulness of her lightshade designs, or a quest for ‘precise imprecision’ in her new wall sculptures. 

Follow Karen on Instagram:
Women’s Hats
Men’s Hats
Lightshades & Wall Pieces

Inspiration

For Karen, inspiration can come from anywhere, finding beauty and elegance in the everyday - from the natural drapery of a garment, to the curves and angles of a chair, the geometric pattern of a rose, or the textures and colours on a wall. She has a fascination with contrasting visual elements - solidity versus fragility, rich embellishment juxtaposed with a pared-back minimalism. Alongside this, a preoccupation with more intangible contrasts and shades of grey - language and words alongside the unsaid, the contradictions in human nature and behaviour.

Millinery Background

After completing a Fashion & Textiles BA (Hons) degree in 1989, Karen moved to London and began her millinery training. She went on to work for several high profile milliners throughout the 1990s, whilst also working in Adult Education, teaching millinery.

In 2001 she returned to education, gaining a place at the Royal College of Art, where she studied for an MA in Millinery. Bringing considerable experience and making skills, here she was able to define and develop her own distinctive style and design aesthetic, and her 2003 graduating collection became a starting point for her practice.
Read more about this here.

2007 saw Karen’s debut at international fashion accessories show Premiere Classe during Paris Fashion Week, as well as the first of several research and selling trips to Japan.
She continued to show in Paris each season until 2020, and her hats were sold in department stores and specialist boutiques across Europe, Asia and North America.

A pioneer in selling headwear online, her online shop launched in 2009. The same year, her book ‘Design and Make Fashion Hats’ was published.

Alongside her own collections, Karen has occasionally worked in collaboration with other designers and brands, including Hussein Chalayan, J Lindeberg, Ports 1961, Edward Sexton and Dashing Tweeds.
Her hats have also featured regularly in editorials for British and international press.

Creative Development

As for many people, 2020/21 was a turning point for Karen. Changes in both her professional and personal life led to a wish to explore a new creative path.
Her range of sculptural lightshades launched in 2022, and has since become an important part of her creative business.
Find out more here.