Karen Morris is an internationally acclaimed hat designer and milliner. She started her line, Karen Morris Millinery, in 2011. Karen studied millinery under famous milliners Edwina Ibbotson (London), Judy Bentinck (London), Jan Wutkowski (North Carolina) and Lina Stein (Ireland).
Karen was born in the British colony of Hong Kong, and moved to America in 2009. Her hats have been worn by celebrities including Rebel Wilson and Nicki Minaj, and at events around the world, including the Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot, and to meet the Queen of England.
Karen’s work has been featured at museums and fashion events, including Fashion Week MN, Voltage, the American Craft Council, the Smithsonian and Pure London. Her work has appeared in Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Hatalk, Pioneer Press and StarTribune, and seen on PBS’ MN Original, Fox 9 and WCCO TV.
Karen’s hats are available at distinguished boutiques, in her NE Minneapolis studio and shop, as well as online (kmhats.com).
Her work inspirations are from traveling, architectures and art sculptures. Philosophy of brand “Karen Morris Millinery” is Quality, Simplicity and Elegance. Karen aims to apply both traditional and modern skills to develop a variety of hat shapes and textures, transformed into multi-functional collections that can be worn in an everyday environment, and yet still has a modern twist.
Most of the hats are formed with different shape of wooden hat blocks and handmade of exotic materials sourced from around the world. I love collaborating with local artists or designers to bring new design elements to my collections.
Teaching is also part of Karen’s career. She has been teaching hat-making locally and internationally. She hopes her effort can bring this long-lost craft – Millinery back to live.
