According to the New York Times, "in the 1940s and 1950s, the name Mr. John was as famous in the world of hats as Christian Dior was in the realm of haute couture".
He apprenticed to his mother, Madame Laurel, as a dressmaker, before forming a partnership with Frederick Hirst, as milliners known as John-Frederics, in 1929.
Mr. John's most famous work was his millinery for Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind.
[3] A famous anecdote about Mr. John goes that a woman came into his shop in urgent need of a hat.
Mr. John was a humble man and attributed all of his success to Mary Pickford.