For his spring/summer 2019 runway show, CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Christian Cowan enlisted the help of renowned milliner Eugenia Kim for a hat tip worthy collaboration. The two design houses worked in tandem to create pieces that would highlight both Cowan’s genius whimsy with Kim’s craftsmanship that she’s developed over the last twenty years.

The collection was infused with Cowan’s proclivity to present women’s ready-to-wear pieces in atypical fashion, with the collaboration including black and white checkered head wraps, three-tier brimmed baseball hats, and crystal checker patterned head covers. Beyond headwear, this collaboration was also Kim’s first time experimenting with ready-to-wear. One full look of a top and shorts made of oversize straw-hat material was worn by model Duckie Thot on the runway.

“The art of collaboration is so important because it’s so inspiring for designers to get out of their own head space and see the mind of another designer,” Kim said. “It brings a lot more ideas out and I think it’s a way to get a different following.”

Execution was no quick and easy task for this collection either, but rather a labor of love. Some pieces took an entire week for two people to make. The straw top and hat involved a lot of cutting up and trying on before Kim’s team was able to get it just right for the runway. The straw ensemble in addition to the triple rimmed baseball cap ended up being Kim’s favorite. “The triple rim was a great take on the dad hat or frat boy hat, and it’s still avant garde,” she said.