INTERVIEW Starting out
“Newcastle was the biggest culture shock of my life,” laughs Awon Golding, a warm smile spreading over her face. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Awon first came to the UK to study Applied Biology at Newcastle University, an unusual choice perhaps for someone who (it’s fair to say) is now one of the most successful milliners working in the UK. “I think I was trying to please my mum,” says Awon. “I really wanted to study art for my degree, but as I hadn’t done an art foundation course, that option wasn’t open to me. So, after just a few weeks in Newcastle, I managed a switch to Combined Studies. Three years later, with a degree under my belt, I left and headed back to Hong Kong where I eventually found a job writing features for Juice Magazine, which was a youth street culture title.” Despite her false start as a scientist,
Awon had always loved fashion and says it was in fact her mother who first introduced her to millinery. “Hat wearing
isn’t that common in Hong Kong. It’s so hot and humid that you don’t really want to have something on your head all the time. However, my mother always loved hats. She’d buy them via mail order from the US, and a month later a giant box would arrive on our doorstep in Hong Kong, which was incredibly exciting! I have a vivid memory of packing beans flying everywhere as a beautiful hat was revealed. I thought hats were fun and as I got older and became interested in curating my own style, I started buying hats for myself. I specifically wore men’s hats back then, styles like flat caps and trilbies. It was a way to distinguish myself and create my own unique look in what was a very conservative environment.” After a few years working on Juice
Magazine, where she rose to the rank of editor, Awon decided she wanted a complete change of direction and in 2009 she enrolled on the HNC millinery course at Kensington & Chelsea College, where she earned a distinction. “I genuinely had no idea about what I wanted from my life until millinery hit me aged 29. There’s a real pressure to decide what you want to
do as a young person, but I didn’t even know that millinery existed as a career when I was young. It was wonderful to be able to spend a year being creative in London, the undisputed world capital of millinery. The HNC gave me a solid basic skill set and I also learned how to create a cohesive collection. I topped up my knowledge by interning with Edwina Ibbotson. She’s an exceptional traditional milliner and she gave me a brilliant grounding. I also had stints working with Dillon Wallwork and Piers Atkinson, which offered me further insight into the industry.” Many would-be milliners founder on
leaving college. It can be a struggle to build a business at that early stage, and gaining experience can be a crucial next step in the right direction. On completing her HNC, Awon managed to find a job with Indigo Lime, a UK-based commercial hat company. For two years she designed ready-to-wear hats for high street brands like Topshop, Topman, River Island, Next, Debenhams and M&S. “Working for Indigo Lime was a fantastic experience. It gave me a
Crin star burst hat from Awon’s A/W 18/19 collection
22 | the hat magazine #99
Felt hat from the Lock Couture by Awon Golding collection
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