Salon Hüte & Accessoires Damen

Hat Manufactory in Mommsenstraße in Charlottenburg

Mommsenstraße runs parallel to Kurfürstendamm and is one of the Charlottenburg streets where owner-managed shops still thrive among old buildings. At number 69 is the ladies’ salon of Salon Hüte & Accessoires, and diagonally opposite, at number 2, is the men’s salon. Qualified milliner Susanne Gäbel opened the shop in 1998, with the men’s salon added in 2010. Her path there included training as a ladies’ tailor in Hamburg and several stints in Paris, culminating in her master craftsman’s certificate. To this day, she works freelance for stage, film, and television productions worldwide, gives workshops in collaboration with museums, and has exhibited at the Adlon, among other places. Her work has been awarded the State Prize for Creative Craftsmanship, at the Zeughausmesse, and with the Monika Thiemen Prize. In the shop, two journeymen and a team of long-standing employees provide advice. The address is accessible via Savignyplatz S-Bahn station, approximately 250 meters away, and Uhlandstraße U-Bahn station; several bus lines also stop at Kurfürstendamm. For a visit, you should bring time, because a hat here is not simply picked off a shelf, but rather chosen together.

From Fascinator to Top Hat, All Made In-House

Salon Hüte & Accessoires is not a boutique that buys ready-made goods, but a manufactory with an attached sales area. In the studio, selected materials are transformed into headwear through several elaborate steps. The range of shapes is unusually wide: fascinators and headpieces stand alongside floppy hats, fedoras and trilbys, as well as cloches, pillboxes, homburgs and top hats, plus flat caps, Prince Heinrich caps, baseball caps, Cuba caps, bucket hats and rain caps. Many models are inspired by designs from the 1920s to the 1950s. The materials change with the collection; straw, felt, velvet, and braids are mentioned, Susanne Gäbel has no firm preference. In addition to hats, there are hair accessories, headbands, hair ties, bags, and turbans. A fedora costs 469 Euros, a velvet beret 110 Euros. Services include care tips, alterations, and repairs. Those who want to try their hand can participate in a weekend course where a maximum of two people at a time, under guidance, create their own hat, from shaping to decorating. There is also a separate section for theater and film productions, and an online configurator helps with pre-selection in the online shop.