Louisville milliner creates fascinators for official Vineyard Vines' Kentucky Derby collection

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Vineyard Vines is an Official Style of the Kentucky Derby, and for the past few years, it has sold a Louisville milliner's fascinators nationwide, as part of its Derby collection.

It's a partnership Jenny Pfanenstiel, master milliner, said happened simply because she asked.

"I always noticed that they never had any hats or fascinators," she said. "They were aware of me because we'd been to trunk shows together, and I asked if they would be interested in seeing some samples and maybe we could partner together on a collection."

That was about nine years ago. She put together 20 fascinator samples and met with the Vineyard Vines team in Connecticut. They fell in love with her craftmanship and confirmed a deal.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is really happening,' now I have to make 700 fascinators somehow,'" she said.

Her career making hats and fascinators, at least in theory, started at a young age. She learned to sew at five years old, and as an adult, went to fashion design school in Colorado.

Along her journey, she made the trip to Australia to learn the centuries old art of millinery using wooden hat forms.

"So from there, I started dabbling in my basement in Chicago as a hobby really," she said. "I just fell in love with the craft and decided to turn into a business."

As a former ballerina, she dreamed of a becoming a costume designer for the ballet. She didn't realize until later that her dream would come true, just in a different way. For example, her millinery helped turn dancers into various characters, and even an elephant at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago.

Joffrey Ballet 2013.jpg — Hats on performers in the Joffrey Ballet designed by master milliner Jenny Pfanenstiel. (Image courtesy Jenny Pfanenstiel) April 30, 2024

As Pfanenstiel grew her business, she attended an exhibitions to sell her creations. At one event, she met a Louisvillian who recommended she make the trip south to sell hats ahead at the Kentucky Derby.

"And so the following year, I made some appointments with some stores in Crescent Hill and sold hats out of the trunk of my car, and I sold out in one day, and I thought, 'wow, people really like hats here,'" Pfanenstiel said.

After five years of making trips to Louisville, she convinced her husband it was time to consider a permanent move.

"During that time, I fell in love with the town and the people and was just so amazed of how supportive this place was for small businesses," she said.

Pfanenstiel now has a store front in Nulu called Formé Millinery Co., that also serves as her studio.

"I never go to work every day. This is truly a passion that I'm just so grateful for everyone who supports me and who enjoys my art and that I'm able to do this year round," Pfanenstiel said.

Her space has a vintage feel that Pfanensteil said is intentional as an old soul herself.

"I've always loved how things were made back in the day, whether it's, you know, getting your shoes handmade or a suit or a dress. So the art of millinery, the craft of it, really spoke to me when I first learned about it, and I just want to help keep it alive," she said.

Her technique truly starts from scratch. She forms sinamay on the wooden forms, lets that dry, then cuts, folds and sews the pieces together for every headpiece.

For hats, the process is done over three to four days. While fascinators are typically smaller, the process is still a similar amount of time because of the drying.

She also created her own sculpting technique using an 1800s vintage braiding machine.

"I love the process of working with the material in my hands and kind of letting it become what it wants," Pfanenstiel said.

For this year's Kentucky Derby Vineyard Vines collection, there are three of Pfanenstiel's fascinators, one pink and two navy. The two navy designs sold out online before Derby week.

"One of the pieces is completely sculptural. And I had a hand sculpt each one myself," she said. Pfanenstiel also employs six stitchers to help sew and construct the hundreds of fascinators for Vineyard Vines.

Pink Vineyard Vines fascinator.png — Jenny Pfanenstiel's 2024 Vineyard Vines Kentucky Derby collection fascinator in pink.

That's not the only major brand she works with. She has designed for celebrities, Woodford Reserve and Old Forester to name a few.

One of her biggest goals though, is helping others discover the art of millinery and keep it going. Her and her husband also own Judith M Millinery Supply House in LaGrange.

"It's one of the three supply houses left in the United States," she said. "We sell the raw materials like for someone like myself to purchase, but we also sold to like Disney and Warner Brothers, universities to their millenary and costume departments to make hats for whatever projects they're working on."

The Pfanenstiels also own Hat Boxes USA for anyone hat storing needs. And in November, they also opened The Hat Shoppe on Shelbyville Road to help any hobbyist hat makers find supplies as well as offer workshops to teach others new skills.

"If we don't teach this craft and continue this on to the younger generations, it will die out, so we want to support up and coming milliners and hat makers and hat designers whatever way you want to participate in the hat world we want to support you," Pfanenstiel said.

She also sponsors an up and coming milliner at Formé each year so the artists have a place to feature their pieces.

"If it wasn't for these boutiques and hotels that believed in me and gave me an opportunity to showcase and sell my hats, then I wouldn't be where I am today either. So we're just here to support people all around," she said.

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