We call this little wooden head a poupée, from the French word for doll. It’s half the size of a human head and it’s what I use to make toiles or prototypes, like a 3D notebook. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket, so it can go everywhere. I would take it if I was going for a walk in the park or to visit a gallery, because you can play all these silly visual tricks – I can put it in front of a painting and take a photograph and it looks as if it’s got the painting on its head!
I’ve probably had this one for about 15 years, maybe longer. It was made for me by a block-making company called La Forme in Paris, using Samba wood, a particularly crisp timber from Africa that is very good for sculpting. At that time I was working with John Galliano during his stint at the helm of Christian Dior, but I used this mainly for my own collections.
I remember all the hats that started life on this poupée; they’re very identifiable as I scroll through the 50,000 pictures on my phone. Rhododendrons from the north of India, blades of grass from my parents’ house, plastic wrappers from Sri Lanka – they’ve all sat on it or in front of it. I remember seeing these beautiful leaves in Japan; I held the wooden head under them because I didn’t want to pick them.
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It feels special, like a friend. When I’m using it I’m really concentrating, thinking about an idea more concretely. It’s like having lines on a page in a notebook – we can all write without them, but they help you keep things straight. This little poupée helps you go in a curve. stephenjonesmillinery.com
