Stephen Jones celebrates 25 years of millinery

Stephen Jones is celebrating 25 years in millinery. An exhibition of the surreal and the sublime in London's Dover Street Market also marks another anniversary says the International Herald Tribute: 20 years since Jones approached his fashion hero, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and subsequently started a collaboration with the Japanese designer.

The culmination of their working relationship is an exhibition of hats "displaced and displayed" through Kawakubo's six-floor London store (17-18 Dover Street from Dec. 2 to Jan. 7). With perfect serendipity, Jones was honored at the British Fashion Awards earlier this month as "accessories designer of the year;" while Adrian Joffe, Kawakubo's husband and business partner, picked up the "best new store" award for Dover Street Market.

Jones worked first with Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood, then with Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler, as well as Kawakubo. But he has done his most dramatic work with John Galliano, creating astounding and lyrical confections from a hat with lollipop sticks to Neffertiti Egyptian headdresses. In close-up, it is possible to understand the extraordinary detail and technical skills that went into these moments of creative emotion.