THE HAT OF NAPOLEON

In 1969, the then President of Moët & Chandon, Robert-Jean de Vogüé, participated in the "Imperial Cruise" aboard the ocean liner Le France. The voyage was an opportunity to honor his ancestor’s personal and professional relationship with the Emperor by acquiring one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s most iconic accessories: the bicorn hat.

Inspired by the Sparnacian landscape, Baqué Molinié created a hat resembling a hill, a representing Champagne’s topography.

A topographic map representing the Epernay region

Atelier Baqué Molinié interpret the hat’s form, rather, as a hill and as a canvas for an embellished topographic map representing the Epernay region—precisely the landscape Napoléon gazed upon while stopping by on his way East to visit his friend, and share of glass of champagne, at the start of one of his many history-making expeditions.

400 Hours of Work

Inlay of white leather, gold thread embroidery, pearl cannetilles, glass beads, and tubes. Sinuous lines in molded leather are finished in gold leaf.