We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacey Rhorer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacey below.
Hi Jacey , thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Rhorer Couture was founded with the profound understanding that when one dons a hat, it serves as a symbol of status, power, beauty, diversity, femininity, and self-expression. As a milliner, it is my mission to empower others through my designs, encouraging them to stand tall, embrace their uniqueness, and step into the stoplight with confidence; thus my company tagline, “See Me Rhorer”. Empowering women to exude confidence and individuality through my one-of-a-kind designs has fueled my passion while transforming a dying art form, millinery, into a thriving business in Kentucky; a state where many people told me fashion designers don’t make it. What the naysayers said to me only ignited my fuel, making me more determined to serve my purpose. Despite the world trying to beat me and everyone else down, I am proud to say I have built a business that allows me to use my God-given talents to serve others, allowing everyone that wears a Rhorer Couture hat to standout from the crowd while adding their our story, their own strength and their own style to my design.
Jacey , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Meet the Milliner
Jacey Rhorer, Owner and Designer of Rhorer Couture
Jacey wears many hats! Her “top hat” is being a mom to her two amazing sons, August and Von. She is also an Entrepreneur and the successful designer of Rhorer Couture Millinery.
Jacey’s career path started after graduating from Henderson County High School in Kentucky when this small-town girl initially attended Western Kentucky University where she was a cheerleader. While studying Fashion Merchandising and Textiles at WKU, Jacey soon realized she wanted to add the art aspect of fashion to her future career.
Her junior year, she landed in Chicago where she obtained her BA of Fine Arts in Fashion Design from Columbia College Chicago. During her senior year of college, Jacey got her first design internship with a well-known Chicago milliner. Jacey’s cold winter days at the millinery boutique were full of warm, bright, and beautiful hand-blocked hats for wealthy Chicago women and tourists who were planning their trips to the Kentucky Derby. Jacey always felt like her uptown “Magnificent Mile” job was calling her home, so she would often use her Kentucky roots to her advantage when selling a hat. She would flash her pretty smile and charm them with her Southern accent, but never ever would she tell them she had never attended the Kentucky Derby!
After 10 years spent in Chicago, a knot was tied and a baby was born, which made her calling to move home to Kentucky a reality. So, what the heck would a girl do in Lexington, Kentucky with a big city fashion design degree? In Chicago, she had already designed hats for people from all over the world, so why not bring it on home!
Since coming home, 17 Kentucky Derbies have passed where thousands of Jacey’s hats have attended. They have walked down the red carpet, graced the walls of the Kentucky Derby Museum, had spectacular views from Millionaires Row, prepped horses in the paddock, visited the barns on the backside, and partied in the infield. Yes, that’s right! Jacey’s hats love to party!
Now, she stands with over 20 years of experience being a milliner. Recently, Jacey’s talents and experience has landed her the job and coveted title as “The Official Milliner of the Kentucky Derby Festival”. For Jacey, style has never been about trends—it’s about truth. It’s about helping women see themselves as powerful, radiant, and completely one of a kind. That’s why she creates hats that aren’t just worn, but pieces that scream confidence, spark joy, and remind each woman of the crown she already wears.
As Spring approaches every year in the Bluegrass State, August and Von will watch their mama flash her pretty smile and use her Southern charm to sell her beautiful, big, and bodacious hats.
“Putting on a big, bold and vibrant Rhorer Couture hat gives us permission to embrace our inner child and have the BEST DAY EVER!” —Jacey Rhorer
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
During my senior year of college, I was interning at a millinery boutique on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. My manager, Amber, and I were having a relatively boring day and in walks actor, Steve Martin, with actress, Helena Bonham Carter. Going from boring to EPIC in less than a second, Amber and I did our best to control our excitement while we greeted and treated the famous duo like normal human beings. Our calm demeanor did wonders for us, because Steve and Helena ended up visiting the hat shop on multiple occasions while they were in Chicago filming a movie. Little did they know, every time Amber and I saw them approaching, we would quickly run into the back office to scream and dance with glee before walking out to greet them. Before their work was done in Chicago, I successfully sold my 1st men’s hat to Steve Martin, and made my very first flower hairpins for Helena Bonham Carter.
I would love to see this story come full circle and design a custom Rhorer Couture hat for Helena Bonham Carter. I know one day I will!!!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I started my business as a side hustle in 2010, and by 2018 with mininum effort my seasonal millinery business had become very successful. As I continued to work and design from home, my Derby hat designs were in such high demand that I could sell as many hats and fascinators as I could make with the help of local boutiques and art galleries that would feature my designs every Spring. Just when I felt like it was the right time to expand my business, in September 2018 my life was upended by the death of my husband and father of my 2 children. The responsibilities that came with being a single parent to my two sons, ages 5 and 10, was suddenly foisted on me. I knew at this point I needed to pull back the reins on my business, and devote most of my time, love and attention to my children. Over the next six years that is exactly what I did. When 2024 approached, after a great deal of healing and my boys well into adolescence, I decided it was time to release the “slingshot” and let Rhorer Couture fly! So in March 2024, I wore a Rhorer Couture fascinator as big and bold as my personality to the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Dillard’s Spring Fashion Show. That evening my fascinator and flair got me noticed, and I was approached by the Dillard’s store manager about selling my designs. That encounter led to a meeting with the Kentucky Derby Festival and eventually being named the Official Milliner of the Kentucky Derby Festival 2025 and beyond, as well as becoming a vendor at the popular department store, Dillards, in Spring 2025.
Even though my family and my business took a tragic detour in 2018, the challenges and hardships I faced made me stronger and strengthened my faith…giving me the courage to move forward when the timing was right. God has given me the momentum to soar, and the courage to “RHORER”!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rhorercouture.com
- Instagram: rhorer.couture
- Facebook: Rhorer Couture Millinery
- Linkedin: Jacey Rhorer Schmiedeknecht
Image Credits
Kristen Ellis, Kristen Ellis Photography