An Israeli costume designer has created a series of hats that look good enough to eat, serving up 3-course millinery that pretty much covers soups to nuts. File this under “silver linings” – Maor Zabar cooked up his headpieces after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
His new obsession with avoiding illness-triggering foods infused his day-job designs!
“There is nothing I adore more than to let my imagination fly. To design colorful, fantastical hats, fascinators and other head couture,” says Zabar on his Etsy shop website, “I’m a costume designer for the theater and dance, with a particular passion (obsession?) for creating headpieces…for all those unique and special people who love a little drama and fun – I mean you.”
Each piece is meticulously hand-made from felted wool; gorgeously detailed from natural fibers, he never makes the same piece twice. Inspiration comes from history, culture, and fashion as well as from everyday foods. One of his designs is a wood-like sushi platter holding California rolls and a salmon nigiri (fiber chopsticks and a dollop of felted of wasabi included).
Another is a gorgeously rendered raspberry pie that has burst its pie crust, it “drips” becomingly down the wearer’s forehead. Too sweet for you? Then tuck into a healthy house salad hat or opt for a fried egg, with a side of mushrooms and asparagus.
The hats could prove poignantly nostalgic if World Food Program claims that the Middle East’s driest winter in several decades will radically change local crops and global food prices. (That report predicts that varying degrees of drought occurring across 66% of arable lands in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Iraq will have significant negative impact on regional diets).
For now, the designer (presumably with a full belly) hopes to expand his costume designs to include opera and theater productions outside of Israel.
“Millinery is not a common profession in Israel and most people here don’t wear hats or spend a lot of money on hats,” he says.
Maybe he could link up with fellow Israeli Kobi Levi, the freelance designer of fantastical footwear, and put the nation on the map as the epicenter of Gaga-esque couture! See more of Zabar’s extraordinary hat collection on his facebook page (link here).
All images from the designer’s website.
