Rachelle Beaulieu

Rachelle Beaulieu is a Quebec City milliner whose creations were worn by both the general public and by artists of stage and screen. She opened her first shop, Vice-et-Versa, near Petit-Champlain Street in 1979, after graduating in fashion arts, with a specialization in millinery, from the École de mode Châtelaine in Quebec City. The shop was in business until 1981.

In 1984, she did an internship at the Musée du chapeau (Hat Museum) in Chazelles-sur-Lyon, France, where she specialized in the technique of blocking. From 1989 to 1999, she ran the Rachelle Beaulieu creative studio on St. Jean Street in Quebec City, where she sold ready-to-wear hats under her eponymous brand. She designed various styles of hats, using fabric, straw, felt, leather or fur. She also created custom-made hats, notably for several members of the National Assembly.

Throughout her career, Rachelle Beaulieu was commissioned to make hats for artistic productions, notably by the Opéra de Québec, and for films such as The Baroness and the Pig by director Michael Mackenzie.

In the early 1990s, she also taught millinery for two years at the Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures.

In addition to producing her own collections, in the early 2000s Rachelle Beaulieu worked with the Montreal company Canadian Hat, creating hats under the LÉON label. During this period, the designer was also involved with the Quebec Craft Council as both an exhibitor and judge, sitting on various selection committees for competitions and shows.