Maison Michel

Millinery Auguste Michel opened his millinery at 65 rue Sainte-Anne in 1936, and the house still shapes hats over a collection of more than 3,000 wooden blocks, backed by a stock of antique straws and felts. Milliners Pierre and Claudine Debard made it the supplier of choice for the big houses, and in 1975 they brought back the Weissman machine, which assembles straw hats with invisible stitching. Karl Lagerfeld began working with the atelier in 1983, and it joined Chanel's craft group in 1997. Maison Michel also sells hats under its own name, so this is the easiest atelier on the list to buy from directly.