Maison Michel was born in 1936, and founded by Auguste Michel, who was a hat-maker. A few decades later, Pierre Debard acquires the brand in 1968 and gives it a second breath. Production techniques allow him to create straw hats of immense size with invisible seams. The revolution begins! Haute Couture is then seduced by the new Maison Michel designs and brands start to order from the label: Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Chanel, Givenchy and many others. After a takeover in 1996 by Chanel, Maison Michel takes a new turn. Laetitia Crahay is appointed artistic director and brings a touch of modernity and femininity to the brand. Maison Michel now includes hats, caps, head-bands, straw hats or rain capes and even berets collections.
Trained at Studio Berçot, Priscilla Royer is the artistic director of Maison Michel since Autumn-Winter 2015. She completed her training at the famous Saint Martins School in London where she had the opportunity to work with young English designers. She then joined the Vivienne Westwood studio whose founder entrusted her with the Red Label collection. In 2011, she founded her own brand Pièce d'Anarchive, a high-end ready-to-wear label, with her sister Deborah Royer, which received the ANDAM award in 2012. The brand closed its doors to their fifth and final collection in 2014. For Maison Michel, Priscilla Royer reinvents the head accessory, she aims to create resolutely strong unisex pieces with rich cultural references.
