Jenny Pfanenstiel Of Forme' Millinery Named A Featured Milliner Of The 148th Kentucky Derby

Feb 17, 2022 Tonya Abeln- Vice President Corporate Communications

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- February 17, 2022 – Churchill Downs Racetrack today announced that Master Milliner and owner of Louisville-based Formé Millinery Jenny Pfanenstiel has been named a Featured Milliner of the 148th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. Pfanenstiel is internationally recognized for her dedication to craft and quality in her artistic creations. Her hats and fascinators for women and men are available at the Formé Millinery Hat Shop in downtown Louisville, specialty boutiques around the world and at www.formemillinery.com. 

Pfanenstiel is a world-renown Milliner awarded for her skill of creating and sculpting hats by hand using the highest quality and rare materials from across the globe. Taking from traditional millinery practices, she is known for her unique process of sculpting hats on a braid machine from the 1800s. Combining classic looks and traditional southern charm with today’s modern trends makes her a perfect fit for the oldest continually held sporting event in North America.

Pfanenstiel has placed her mark on the Kentucky horse racing scene as the Official Milliner of the Kentucky Derby Museum and a Featured Milliner of Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington, KY. “As a milliner who respects the storied history of my own craft, it is thrilling to partner with an iconic and historic event like the Kentucky Derby,” said Pfanenstiel. “The tradition of hats at the Derby is just one of the distinctive things that make it such a sensational spectacle and it is an honor to collaborate on one-of-a-kind pieces that add to the beauty and special memories associated with America’s Greatest Race.”  

Pfanenstiel has crafted hats for some of the world’s most well-known dignitaries and celebrities including Former First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Neil Diamond and Barbara Corcoran from the TV show “Shark Tank.” She has created exclusive hat collections for vineyard vines, Covet Fashion Style App, J Peterman, American Express, Goodman Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet and is a hat designer for McCall Patterns.  In November 2015, she published her methods in “The Making of a Milliner” as a way to share her creativity with other aspiring Milliners. In 2019, she was selected as a Tory Burch Fellow through the Tory Burch Foundation as a woman entrepreneur.

About the Kentucky Derby

The $3 million Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Inaugurated in 1875, the legendary 1 ¼-mile race for three-year-olds is the oldest continuously held major sporting event in North America and the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown series.  Known as the 'The Run for the Roses,' 'The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports' and 'America's Race,' the Kentucky Derby is the most attended horserace in the nation.