Waltraud Reiner: Australia’s foremost milliner
trains Kangan Batman TAFE students
design award winning hats

Friday 6 September, 2002

Straw hats, felt hats, wedding hats, party chapeaux, red hats, Victorian hats, they are all back in fashion and will all be on display at ’Churches’ in Church Street Richmond on 10 October 2002 at a cocktail event to be held from 6.00pm.

Students from Kangan Batman TAFE’s Richmond Campus will showcase their millinery skills in a hat exhibition at the restaurant to welcome the 2002 Melbourne spring season.

This will give the guests the opportunity to view the skills and the styles that are the latest in fashion and will be winners for all occasions, be it the long awaited annual event the Melbourne Cup.

The past decade or so has seen a resurgence in courses in millinery and Kangan Batman TAFE provides the best training one can get in the field.

Kangan Batman TAFE students are lucky to train under one of the best in the field, Waltraud Reiner. Waltraud Reiner has been teaching millinery classes at Kangan Batman TAFE for a number of years and is a senior lecturer at Kangan Batman TAFE’s Richmond campus.

She was trained by the Queen’s milliner Rose Corey, in London in the 1980’s. Waltraud has also worked for Philip Somerville who counts the Dutchess of Kent, Margaret Thatcher, Joan Collins and the late princess Diana among his customers.

"I was the ’juniorest’ junior in the workroom, but just being there and seeing what was going on was a lesson in itself. There are lots of ways of making hats. As long as we pass on the knowledge we have, millinery will stay a trade in its own right," she says.

Waltraud is one of Australia’s foremost milliners who uses her creativity to not only inspire her students, but to create amazingly striking hats for all occasions, including for the fashion frenzied Melbourne Cup and the Flemington Races.

Kangan Batman TAFE offers courses in millinery starting from Certificate I level to Certificate IV. Students from all levels will showcase their creations at the exhibition.

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With the Flemington Races and Melbourne Cup not far away and many people thinking about what to wear for the fashion bonanza, Waltraud reminds us that hats are not only a fashion statement but a necessity for sun protection.

"We hear a lot about the depleting ozone layer and the risk of cancer, that is the area where we should be thinking more about hats. Sometimes media makes fun of people who wear hats. Whereas I think it is a necessity and should be promoted accordingly."

The work that will be on display at the cocktail event will include the hats that made it as finalists at the Wagga Golden Gown Award in August this year. Kangan Batman students were up against long established and well-known milliners but made it to the finals never the less.

Other top trainers at Kangan Batman TAFE include Louise McDonald, Rose Hudson and Serena Lindeman. Leading milliners from the industry also work closely with Kangan Batman TAFE providing valuable support and expertise to staff and students. Many past students at Kangan Batman TAFE are now making a mark in the millinery business within Melbourne.