George Malyard, hatter: records

The archive contains: documents relating to customer orders and deliveries (1970-1982); invoices (1979-1980); financial records - VAT books, bank statements etc (1971-1982); notebooks, some of which contain designs (1960's); papers relating to the business premises and private property owned by George Mallard (1970-1981); some promotional material (ca. 1963-1973); fabric samples (ca.1960-1980); a number of patterns for hats and trimmings (1977-1979); 2 hats and hat pins (ca.1970's).

Malyard was one of London's leading hatters and milliners, supplying both wholesale and retail customers. George Mallard, who founded the company, first appears in Kelly's Directory in 1954, trading under his own name until ca.1966, when the company became Malyard Hats and later just Malyard. Originally the company was based at 12 Ganton Street W1, moving to 3 Kingly Street W1 in 1970 and finally to 137 Lavender Hill SW11. George Mallard stopped designing in 1981 and the company ceased trading until 1985, when Mallard retired and his address is given as Sydney, Australia.

Malyard sold not only hats, but also bespoke tailoring and theatrical head-dresses: examples of designs for ballet and the Aer Lingus hats can be found in the sketch books. Malyard were appreciated for their inventive designs and all types of hats were designed and produced from rain hats and fashion turbans to more traditional designs and skull caps. Malyard's clients included high profile individuals such as Sir Roy Strong and Rudolph Nureyev, retailers, in particular Jaeger and Harrods, and costumers, such as the BBC Costume Department. Malyard exported hats word-wide, including to the USA, Europe and the Phillipines.

This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Study Rooms by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

Access to some of the material may be restricted. These are noted in the catalogue where relevant.

The gift of George Mallard, Battersea, December 1986

Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

The records were deposited with the Textiles Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum by George Mallard on 15 December 1986. They were transferred to the Archive of Art and Design in March 1988

A number of hats made by Malyard are held in the Textiles and Fashion Department, V&A. Acquisition papers (MA/1/M465) regarding items donated to the V&A by George Mallard are held in the V&A Archives.