London statues wear designer hats

London's most famous statues have had an unusual makeover - as of this morning, 20 well known statues across the captial are wearing designer hats. 

The unsual additions are part of Hatwalk - a scheme to bring illustrious but sometimes overlooked statues back to life. Tourists and locals alike can take a walking tour around the city to spot as many hats as they can along the way.  

Trafalgar Square's Admiral Lord Nelson is wearing a Union Jack hat adorned with a replica of the Olympic flame. The hat was designed by Sylvia Fletcher and made by Lock & Co, who made Nelson's original bicorn hat. Established in 1676, Lock & Co is the oldest hatters in London.

An adjacent statue of Sir Henry Havelock is topped with a shiny, disc-shaped hat by milliner Philip Treacy.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "You've got to take your hats off to London. The cutting edge style and imagination of London's millinery talent is feted worldwide, and is setting the international catwalks alight.

"I can't think of a better way to celebrate the heritage of British millinery and its contribution to our fair city than by dressing our most noble of statues, including our most heroic son, Nelson, in creations dreamt up by our leading visionaries." 

Treacy commented: "He was a rather forbidding and fierce character and I really felt he could do with some cheering up, especially since he sits in Trafalgar Square, which in the build up to the Games has been the focus of pre-Olympic excitement."

HATWALK was commissioned by the Mayor of London, in partnership with BT, Grazia magazine, the British Fashion Council and the London 2012 Festival. The hats will be in place for the next four days and will then be auctioned for charity.

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