Natalia Baquero’s Sculptural World of Millinery
From Colombia to Canada, Natalia Baquero makes hats that command the spotlight.
Among the antique shops and specialty grocers in Knowlton in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, you’ll find milliner Natalia Baquero’s boutique. “With stores like mine, and galleries [opening], it’s starting to have an artistic vibe,” says the Colombia-born designer. More atelier than traditional retail space, it’s where she displays her work, meets with clients, and dreams up new designs.
Growing up in Bogotá, Baquero inherited her creativity from her textile artist mother and her grandmother, who taught her to sew. But it wasn’t until she studied film in university that she began to look at costumes more critically. While in school, Baquero also worked for a local fashion designer, and she eventually honed her millinery skills working with Cirque du Soleil in Montreal. “My first day was like a fairy tale,” she says of joining the hat department.
In 2012, she left to start her eponymous label. In the years since, she’s committed herself to preserving age-old millinery techniques, and this fall, she’ll reveal a collection she’s been working on with her mother.
Baquero lights up when speaking about her custom work. The hats she makes, finished with raw silk, lambskin, or even straw woven in her native Colombia, are the result of combining her instincts with each customer’s preferences. “Since I opened, this place has really opened my eyes to what my purpose is as an artist,” she says. “It’s about making people shine through what they wear, and bringing their truth to life.”
