Independent hat designer, Espiègle graduated in the UK and is now bringing her own brand home.

Xin Wen chose to transfer her ceramic sculpting skills to the hat world because she wanted to relate to the personal temperament of people and help them become more confident within themselves.

Espiègle is the French word for “playful”, which describes her brand very well.

She combines the UK’s retro style with a fairytale world to design her collections from the Fancy Fruit series to the Bees Village.

("Snooker's Gift" series)
While in a museum's bookstore, Xin found a numerous books that attracted her attention. Fairytales and embroidery are cleverly fused to give birth to Espiègle’s first hat series, "Snooker's Gift.”

(Fancy Fruit series)
"I always put some of the more abstract or exaggerated elements into my design. I am inspired mainly from travel and dreams. I often dream of fairytales, they are very interesting.”

As an independent brand designer, the process of developing new products, getting inspiration, hand-drawing manuscripts, selecting materials, experimenting and just a few of the aspects needed for consideration when it comes to creating new pieces.

"The time of an independent designer is very valuable. Many people may think that the office workers are more tired, but my work is going on as usual on Saturday and Sunday, and there are a lot of design and transaction details that need to be addressed. When you have your own business, you can’t just change jobs when a problem occurs you have to solve it, which requires self-discipline and efficiency. However I am happy to do this because I love my work.”

From the works of the master Philip Treacy, we summed up the nine functions of the hat, which are the power of visual focus, the power of attending other accessories, the attraction, the decorative effect, the interesting point, the uniqueness, the charm, the modification and the temperament.

Philip Treacy, who is deeply influenced by feathers, and Jane Corbett, who are good at using sculpting to design hats giving them a unique aura filled with rich wonders.

Espiègle uses different cuttings and colours that have a different chemical effect for the wearer to create a new style temperament.

"The hat master said that a suitable that is 'The hat that stands you out from the crowd. The hat that says you are in your own'. Through it, you can show your own uniqueness, distributed in the crowd.”