The Millinery Association of Australia’s Committee is elected each year in November at the Association’s AGM.
The Committee consists of four executive positions: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer and up to six ordinary committee members.
To apply to become a member visit the application page here.
Fiona Cooper – VIC
President
Years ago Fiona was affectionately called ‘Laa Laa’ by her young nephew who couldn’t pronounce her name. So it was only natural that it became the inspiration for her brand ‘Millinery LAA LAA‘.
You may think you see lots of photos of Fiona on social media but take a second to look twice. She’s a triplet! But what you may not realise is that she’s also a twin. Yes, an identical twin within a triplet set! She says even Facebook recognition technology can’t tell her and her twin sister apart and they are always being tagged incorrectly!
Fiona’s first love is millinery. She studied at Kangan TAFE in Richmond and graduated with a Cert IV in 2010. Her other love is snow skiing. She likes nothing better than to hit the slopes, breathe in some crisp alpine air and enjoying après ski wearing an amazing winter hat!
Fiona served as MAA secretary from 2020 – 2022.
Rachael Hart – VIC
Vice President
With a passion for hats, Rachael had been creating headwear for herself for some time when she decided to pursue a professional qualification in millinery gaining her Certificate IV from Kangan TAFE in Richmond.
Coming to millinery with an Interior Design background Rachael Hart’s designs have an architectural feel focusing on form, proportion, line and balance combined with colour and texture of the materials.
She lives in Yarrawonga, in country Victoria, where she has her studio and hat shop right in town.
Jo Peterson – VIC
Secretary
Jo is a bit of an adrenalin junky; she has her pilot’s licence, has tried skydiving, loves scary theme park rides and has lived and worked in both Canada and Saudi Arabia. She now calls Melbourne’s beautiful Mornington Peninsula home and with her background in haematology and bone marrow transplant she works as a clinical nurse specialist in a busy chemotherapy clinic at her local hospital.
She has been a member of the Millinery Association of Australia since 2016 and served as an ordinary committee member from 2019 – 2021 before taking on the secretary role this year.
Jo is passionate about education and loves to learn – no education is a waste of time! Along with fellow committee members, she hopes to provide members with a yummy tasting platter of millinery learning opportunities in 2023. So stay tuned to find out what’s in store!
‘Millinery Matters’, Millinery Australia’s newsletter, was started by Jo and it will make a comeback this year with both Jo and Rose Hudson as co-editors.
Her biggest millinery thrill to date was winning the inaugural Millinery Australia Patron’s Pick Award in 2019 for her entry ‘Spirograph’ as chosen by patron Stephen Jones OBE.
Millinery Association of Australia
PO Box 2074
Hampton East VIC 3188
Mary Mohr – QLD
Treasurer
Mary is new to the Committee this year. After retiring from her working life as a TAFE Business Administration teacher she enrolled as a millinery student at the same institute in Brisbane where she completed qualifications in both millinery and visual arts. She therefore brings both business and millinery skill sets to her new role as Treasurer.
Sewing was a family tradition but it wasn’t until Mary retired from full time work that she had the time to indulge her more creative side. Her long term membership of Brisbane Racing inspired her to study millinery so she would have something to wear to the races!
Besides millinery Mary likes to spend time with her granddaughters who are now old enough for the car seats to be swapped for “L” plates! She also likes to take long drives around our beautiful country often towing “Cruiser” the A-Van behind.
John Westwood Hill – NSW
Ordinary Member
John Westwood Hill is the face behind the brand and millinery channel on YouTube, JWH Millinery. John’s millinery career started with making pieces for his wedding.
Since graduating with a Distinction in Millinery at Leeds College of Arts he has remained a creative soul and is now sharing his skills via their YouTube channel.
After a move to Sydney from the UK, John has joined Millinery Australia and has very much enjoyed getting to know milliners and the millinery industry in and around Australia.
Lisa Hughes – VIC
Ordinary Member
Lisa will be the first to admit working under two names can get a little confusing.
It all made sense back in 2016 when Lisa started her career move to Milliner. While studying Certificate IV Millinery at Kangan and freelancing as a Advertising Producer, she was looking for a business name. In her mind ‘Lisa Watt’ sounded, short, sharp and exactly like a Production Manager who got stuff done, not a Craftsperson who made by hand, so a label under her married name, Lisa Hughes Millinery was created.
With over 20 + years in Advertising as a Stylist and Producer, Lisa brings analytical and creative thinking and three years of sub-committee project support to the role. Now focused solely on millinery, Lisa is grateful for the connections her Millinery Australia membership has granted her and the friendships she’s made along the way.
You will usually find Lisa in her home studio, located in Melbourne’s West or even stitching at a colleague’s kitchen table, but away from millinery her favourite place to go is to her local dog beach with her dogs, Scout and Ari.
Rose Hudson – VIC
Ordinary Member
Jane Moy – QLD
Ordinary Member