Enter the world of the ‘Mad Hatter’, where everything is an illusion and anything seems possible. This theme is all about creativity and daring - designing hats that surprise, entertain, and defy the rules of traditional millinery. Bring fantasy, bizarre beauty, and surreal elements together in one striking head creation. Let your inner, playful and eccentric Mad Hatter speak. The designer/maker is free to choose a source of inspiration on which to base the design. We challenge you to think outside the rules and create a hat that would be perfect for a frenzied and playful tea party, where each hat tells its own story and stimulates the audience's imagination!

Entry

• The competition is open to every hat maker worldwide.
• Your application for participation must be submitted before January 31, 2025 via the application form on the NHV website.
• Payment of the participation fee is done via the NHV website, at time of registration.
• Should you wish to withdraw from the competition after registration, please let the Competition Committee know by email as soon as possible. This is to give other interested parties the opportunity to take the vacant place.
• If you withdraw from the competition or do not send in a hat for any reason, there will be no refund of the entry fee.
• Participants who do not submit a hat and do not contact the Competition Committee about it, may be excluded from participation the following year.

Competition Hat Conditions

• Participation requires at least one unconventional material to be visibly incorporated into the hat. By unconventional material is meant: other than ordinary, different from what you would expect, in other words: that which is not common in millinery. The use of multiple unconventional materials in the competition hat is allowed.
• Your entry, a (cocktail) hat, fascinator or other headwear, must be an original design, made especially for this contest. It must be handmade by you and meet our brief. The hat must not have been shown before or bear any great resemblance to previous entries.
• You may make a women's or men's hat.
• The choice of materials is free.
• The Jury will take all these elements into account. The judgement of the jury is final and no correspondence will be made regarding the results.
• You may not show any photos of your entry on social media or on your website before the winners are announced by the Jury on the day of the competition, May 10, 2025, in Arcen.
• The hat must be of good quality and craftsmanship (hat craftsmanship).
• The hat should be wearable, comfortable and balanced. In the case of a women's hat, it should be suitable for size 57 - 58 cm and in the case of a men's hat, it should be suitable for size 59 - 60 cm.
• The entries will be judged blindly. (Name/brand/label) tags in, or on the hat are therefore not allowed and may be reason to disqualify the entry.
• The seam of the (inner) band is centre back. If this is not possible because of the design, indicate with a cross in a contrasting colour what the centre back is.
• The Jury will judge to what extent you have adhered to the competition conditions. In case of non-compliance, the Jury may decide to disqualify your competition hat.
•  Work can be refused without explanation.
•  Each participant may submit a maximum of 1 hat.

Hat Delivery and Information

• We ask you to supply the following information twice, once printed on an A4 sheet in your mail package and once digitally, using the appropriate form on the website:

• For publication in the competition photo lookbook and on the website your hat will be photographed on a model. During the photoshoot, the female model will wear her hair in a bun and the models (M/F) will be photographed from the front, or possibly from the side.
• If the hat is not delivered on time, then no photo can be taken of it and the hat will not be included in the competition lookbook.
• The text that you send digitally will be included in the photo lookbook made for this competition. So please deliver this on time!
• Your hat has to be sent in no later than March 30, 2025 to the delivery address. This address will be provided to you after your registration.

Entries From Abroad

Participants are requested to familiarise themselves with the provisions applicable in their country regarding the shipment of packages. For shipments from outside the EU:

• If you add the statement "samples without any commercial value nor insurance value“ or ”the contents have no commercial value“ on the outside of the parcel, the chances of incurring customs clearance charges are low.
• If you indicate the value of your hat on the outside of the parcel, import duties may have to be paid at customs. In that case, the NHV will only accept the parcel after the costs have been paid by the participant. To this end, a payment request will be sent. Please allow extra clearance time in relation to the deadline.

Exhibition and Return Shipping

• The competition hats will be exhibited for three weeks after the competition day.
• If there is a possibility for the competition hats to be exhibited for a longer period or elsewhere, permission will be sought from the participant.
• During that period, you will receive a payment request from the Treasurer of the NHV for the return. Payment must be made before the return will take place.
• Your hat will be returned to the address you provided at the end of the exhibition and after we have received your payment, unless you have indicated that you would like to collect it yourself.