I grew up in an unending array of sweet colorful bonnets, hats, and caps, spending my formative years in Germany, Italy, Turkey, Japan, and Iceland.  My father, who made clothing and accessories for a hobby, taught me how to use the sewing machine at the tender age of 11.

It was on the other-worldly island of Iceland that my obsession with clothing the body began. I’d spend hours in front of the mirror, draping yards of fabric on my body to amuse myself. My mother, an art teacher, made the perfect move when she bought me subscriptions to Women's Wear Daily and Elle Magazine to inspire me.

I remember being the first to wear leggings in high school.  I took the bus to Reykjavik from the US Nato base to find the popular tapering black polyester stirrup pants. Instead, I went into a punk shop to buy tight nylon leggings instead. 

A boy named Charlie would make fun of me, saying “Look who’s here, it’s Jacques Cousteau! Where are you diving today, Jacques?”. I would smile back, unflapped, saying: “Just you wait, everyone will be wearing these soon”. And I was right. They still are wearing them 40 years later as pants (yikes)!

The school newspaper interviewed me and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I responded immediately, “a milliner”, in jest, because I had just learned the word and thought it was neat. Little did I know that I would become one! They misprinted it as “millionaire”.

Although I was accepted into the fashion design program at Otis-Parsons in Los Angeles straight out of high school, I chose instead to study Art History and studio art at the University of Michigan, where a theatrical millinery class changed the course of my life. I resolved to move to the Big Apple after graduation to continue my studies in millinery. There, I took classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked for several different fine and theatrical milliners, absorbing everything I could. 

After graduating from FIT's Accessory Design program, I worked as a footwear designer in Seattle and later at ESPRIT in San Francisco, where international development trips to Taiwan and Mexico broadened my understanding of craftsmanship and manufacturing. Even then, millinery remained my first love.

In 2000, a friend introduced me to fish leather through a small handbag company. Two years later, while returning from exhibiting at the Chelsea Crafts Fair in London, I read about Iceland's fish leather tannery in Iceland Review. A few years later, I began incorporating Icelandic fish leather into my headwear.

This was also the year I started teaching workshops in the unique technique of 'sculptural freeform hat blocking’.  For Fall 2003, I sold my collection to BARNEYS New York, nearly selling out. After I delivered the hats to Barney’s and got paid, I promptly left for a sabbatical in Paris, France. I just couldn’t handle being in NYC after the trauma of 9/11. The beautiful Erykah Badu, the R&B singer, commissioned 3 of my 'Molecular Mermaid Helmets.'

In June 2004, I left New York City to settle down in my favorite city on earth, San Francisco . In Fall 2007 and 2008, I saw the launch of my co-branded collection of hybrid caps for Goorin Brothers, a Bay Area hat company. After great success with these two collections, i became their in-house designer for a year, designing not only hats but also bags, until the economic collapse in 2008, when I was laid off. 

Since 2001, I've taught millinery workshops throughout the United States and internationally, including at the International Millinery Forum in Wagga Wagga, Australia.

I also taught millinery to fashion students at the Parsons School of Design in New York City for 3 1/2 years as an adjunct professor, from 2012 to 2015. In July and August of 2023, I participated in my first artist’s residency in northern Iceland. 

Today I happily live back in San Francisco with my adopted Yorkshire Terrier, Moja (whose name means 'hat' in Korean), where I'm constantly experimenting with new techniques, natural dyes, and sustainable materials.

Nearly all of my work is handmade and one of a kind. I’m constantly striving to be a zero waste designer. I only use natural materials (though sometimes I need to use nylon thread with my fish leather).

Over the years my hats have found homes with musicians and artists including Erykah Badu, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Björk and Nick Cave.

I believe clothing and accessories should last for decades—not seasons. My hope is that each hat becomes part of someone's personal story and is treasured for generations.

Jasmin Zorlu wearing her trademark Aquatic Aviator Fishskin Helmet with her fur son, Moja

Questions or comments? Send me a message!