Menswear Style Podcast
The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Menswear Style Podcast
Galih Richardson of Laird & Co Hatters & Paul Stafford of The Season Hats
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This week we talk to some of the world's finest Milliners. Featuring Galih Richardson of Laird & Co Hatters, Paul Stafford of The Season Hats and Alec the Hatmaker who makes hats in the fashion capital of Milan. We also have our own Grooming Editor Rakelle Maurici who lends us a female perspective on what hats to wear.
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Hello and welcome to episode 20 of the Menswear Style Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Brooker, and this week we're talking about the art of millinery. Indeed, who wants to be a milliner? We speak to Gelly from Laird Hatters, the independent specialist in caps, hats, and all headwear with stores in Covent Garden, Soho, and Cambridge. He took time out to speak to me but couldn't contain his laughter at seeing a small child walk into a glass door.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, my favourite recently was Lee Evans. That man, that man is a genius. And he came in, you know, dressed so casually.
SPEAKER_05We speak to Paul Stafford, designer from The Season Hats. Paul's a guy who knows his onions when it comes to this sort of thing. He's even been to millinery school. We had a little chat, although it took a couple of takes to get going.
SPEAKER_04And I've been making hats for about the last ten years. Started doing women's hats, and did uh work experience initially for I'm just rambling. Sorry, can we start this again?
SPEAKER_05We're also joined by the grooving editor here at Mint's West Restar, Raquel Marici, who is trying to revive the novelty beer drinking hat with built-in straws.
SPEAKER_02I'm venturing out into that one a little bit. I'm still trying to get used to the to how it looks on me. I'm not sure if it really suits me yet, but um at the moment I'm really enjoying that.
SPEAKER_05And finally we speak to Alec the Hatmaker, who is a millionaire out in the fashion capital in Milan. He tells me that apart from millinery, he also takes particular pride in his line of bespoke underwear composed of Lego bricks.
SPEAKER_00Um most uh most beautiful for me, the most characteristic and the most the one with most possibility.
SPEAKER_05All that coming up shortly. But before we crack on, a little bit of housekeeping. If you're not there already, head over to the website which is www.menswearstyle.co.uk. There you'll find all the show notes, reviews, and competitions. Make sure you're following us on the social app menswearstyle. Make sure you download the menswear style app, simply punch in menswear style into the app store, and we'll keep you updated with grooming tips, styling guides, etc. Lastly, subscribe to us in iTunes, and if you like what you hear, leave us a review or a show suggestion. If you have any questions or would like to be featured on the show, you can write to me, Peter at menswearstyle.co.uk. Okay. On with the show. And up first is Gali from Laird Hatters. Okay, I'd like to introduce now Galee from Laird Hatters. He's the press manager. How are you doing today, Gally?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm good. Very good. Okay.
SPEAKER_05Uh Galee, uh, tell us a little bit, please, um, whilst uh whilst the shop's quiet, a little bit about Laird Hatters.
SPEAKER_03Uh well Laird Hatters has been around since 2009. It was started by a couple, Alex and Zophia, who sort of have a passion for for millinery. So Zophia's more on the women's side of things and Alex is more on the men's side of things. Um and we produce so we focus on fur felt and you know traditional classic styles, but done in a modern twist. Um and everything has to be produced in the UK. So we're one of the last hat makers to to produce a hundred percent of everything that we do in the UK. Um so yeah, that's I guess that's how we've made our reputation.
SPEAKER_05Wow, that's amazing. Um and what do people normally come in and ask for? What typically I'm trying to find out what the trends are that is just taking over at the moment.
SPEAKER_03Oh my gosh, the first thing they ask for is the the Sherlock Holmes hat. That's that's always the first hat we get.
SPEAKER_05Really? Wow, that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_03We get the dear stocker request from zero.
SPEAKER_05And then do you go to a separate wing of the shop and uh like bring out the Sherlock capsule?
SPEAKER_03Oh, we've we've got loads of them. But um Yeah, you know, it's mostly like a tourist trade that we get, sort of passing trade, but the more the more serious customers they they know what they want. They want you know sort of a high grade first. So we do a we do a rabbit shelf, um, which is a really nice way to finish rabbit shells for a hat, usually Fedora. Um we have quite a few really beautiful classic styles that we do. One of them is called the Alfred, which we designed last year, which is now our our best seller. Um so yeah, yeah, there's there's most people that come in who are sort of discerning hats wearers know exactly what they want.
SPEAKER_05And I'm I'm guessing a lot of the hats as well that you have there, people are gonna come in and buy for special occasions.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, we get we get the top hat wearers for Ask Off.
SPEAKER_05Sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think that's the thing.
SPEAKER_05Um I mean I'm guessing Goodwood as well. I mean, I've I've noticed on your site you do stuff for like secret cinema. So uh what do you typically hear people come in and ask for for a specific occasion?
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean we get a lot of sort of servicemen who need bowler hats for marches, we get a lot of people that you know, it's still the the the hat tradition is still there in the UK. So, you know, wearing hats for for traditional sort of occasions that that a lot of us have forgotten about, you know, like like the marches that they do with all the servicemen, all the people in the military and the army. They all wear their berries and their bows, and they all have to buy them from somebody so a lot of them come to us. And then ascot and Goodwood, so Ascot top hats. We sell out the top hats to be ascot. Um and then Goodwood we do um the wide broom fedoras, and we also do the range not for true based ones. So 1950s style, you know what I mean? Uh going back to the 1920s, even sort of all those sort of collections of hats, and women's as well. So we do women's closes and and uh wide broom fedoras for Goodwood as well.
SPEAKER_05Uh I was in your shop a couple of weeks ago, and uh the gentleman that was there um clocked the size of my head straight away. He goes, uh, you need a 57, and I was like, I think I'm a fifty-six, and he goes, No, no, no, no, trust me, you're a 57. And he brought out the hat that was to a T.
SPEAKER_03So um Yeah, we tend to do that. We tend to get to a point where we can we can sort of size people up just by looking.
SPEAKER_05Uh and how do you actually I mean this might sound like the most stupid question in the world, but how do you actually wear the hat like the true be or the fedora? Are your ears supposed to go inside the hat, or can they just kind of nudge out? Is there a specific thing that you should do with your ears?
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, we do um you wear the the the hat just above your ears, one centimeter above the ears, straight line across the head, and just above the eyebrows, basically. That's that's the right fit of a hat.
SPEAKER_05Right. And what do people commonly get wrong when it comes to these sort of styles? What do you what do you hate seeing?
SPEAKER_03Um what do we hate seeing?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, in terms of trends and like that, your pet peeves with hats.
SPEAKER_03Oh, the pet peeve is wearing the hat at the back of your head? You know, like that that weird halo thing that people do.
SPEAKER_06Uh yeah, yeah, no, that's it.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it's alright, it's alright, it looks alright, but honestly. You have to go one size down if you're gonna do that. And and then they try to wear it normally and it just looks it looks really bad. And then like we get the customers who I don't know, we have we have this really weird trend of Chinese customers that come in and the first thing they do is they put the hat on sideways. So you know what I mean? Like the uh the the brim is is facing sideways for some reason. We've had a trend of that recently as well. Oh, we get all sorts of stuff. We get all sorts of things.
SPEAKER_05Well maybe it'll kick start something, you know, you'll actually have to design these hats so that you know it fits on like a like a mold. It will actually fit on the the sideways.
SPEAKER_03But you know, like a tricoin hat, they they they wear it sideways like that. So who knows? Who knows what's gonna be.
SPEAKER_05Well maybe it's gonna maybe they're the go-getter trend setters and they'll be teaching us something about hats.
SPEAKER_03I reckon so. I reckon so.
SPEAKER_05So uh lastly, I I hate for you to disclose any client confidentiality, but do you have any uh do you have any special requests for special celebrities there?
SPEAKER_03Oh, we have any requests for celebrities for people to come in.
SPEAKER_05Um yeah, I'm I'm wondering if like any of your clients are typical like that. Like the JKs or the um the other dudes that might be famous or synonymous with wearing hats.
SPEAKER_03We have yeah, we have a lot. We have uh we've had Tom Hardy come in. Um yeah, my favorite recently was Lee Evans. That man is a genius. And he came in, you know, just so casual. It's just I mean his nature is quite quite sort of like hyperactive. And and you know, in true form. He is quite hyperactive. And it took me about two minutes to clock exactly when he came in the shop, but yeah, a really lovely guy, and he bought loads of loads of baker boys. But yeah, he was one of my favorites so far.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's good. Well I'm glad to hear because I I'm a huge fan of the Evan, so I'd hate for him to come in and just No no, he's amazing, honestly.
SPEAKER_03He's the most polite, lovely guy. That's what he's basically.
SPEAKER_05Great. Um well lastly, oh I keep saying lastly, but uh Galee, I hear that I hear that um this word for Fedora love. Um Fedora love. Yeah. Um no, no, so it's not Fedora love, it's Fedorable. That's it.
SPEAKER_03Oh Fedorable, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Is that did you did you start that?
SPEAKER_03I coined that.
SPEAKER_05Oh, mate. Well it's it's it's doing the round, so congratulations.
SPEAKER_03Every time you did the windows, I mean, mate, that's fedorable. Any back up?
SPEAKER_05I I certainly hope that you've uh coined it or painted it somewhere.
SPEAKER_03So we need to hashtag that. Hashtag Fedora. Everybody, put your fedoras on, take pictures, go out there.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03And make sure you do layered hatters as well.
SPEAKER_05Credit where credit's due. Nice for my. Well, um, thanks, Gully. Thank you very much. And uh the website is laidlondon.co.uk. You'll find it all in the show notes and uh make sure you pop down to the shop.
SPEAKER_03That's it. Looking for we've got some new stuff coming in this year, so look out for us um in 2007, especially in autumn winter. I think we're gonna do a massive sort of change around of of a lot of things. So yeah, look forward to to building and growing. Thank you for the interview.
SPEAKER_05No trouble. Thanks. Cheers, Gully.
SPEAKER_03Take care, bye-bye.
SPEAKER_05Gully from Laird Hatters there. And now a word from our sponsor.
SPEAKER_01Tell me you like my hat. You're not wearing a hat. Don't you like my hat? You're not wearing a hat! Why can't you say it's Johnny? Why can't you say you like my hat? Why can't you say you like my shirt?
SPEAKER_05Ah, to be sure, to be sure. Tom Cruise there in his uh Irish accent. Fantastic. Uh moving on, we're gonna be speaking now to Paul Stafford from the Seasoned Hats. So I'd like to introduce you to the podcast now Paul Stafford from The Seasoned Hats. How are you doing today, Paul? I'm very well, how are you doing? I'm very well. Paul, uh, just tell us a little bit about yourself, please.
SPEAKER_04Sure. Um, so I've been making hats for about the last ten years. I did my master's at the Royal College of Arts, so I specialized in women's fashion and was solely doing millinery while I was there. And I've also worked for the Queen's Milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan and started the season hats about three years ago with my wife Selina. And initially we were just doing women's hats, so it's predominantly women's occasional wear and some casual pieces, but we're expanding that at the moment into a menswear range that we just launched at London Fashion Week a couple of weeks ago.
SPEAKER_05Okay, cool. So, um, what do people not know about Millinery in terms of its history, where it all began?
SPEAKER_04Well, there's suppose there's so much to go on. There's um it's an amazing heritage, and quite a lot of it's linked to the UK, which is just lovely. So, where we get our hats blocked, so the shaping of the straws and the felts is up in Luton, and that's a town that was built around the millinery industry. So there used to be like a whole community that was there, so they would be picking the reeds in order to weave the straws to shape the straws, and then there'd be people that would do the trimmings of those in ribbons and in silks and flowers and that sort of thing. And Luton's still surviving as it's still one of the sort of two hat towns within the UK, which is amazing, and there are still a few factories that are able to continue and still survive um in the current climate, which is amazing.
SPEAKER_05Right. And what about the um the actual study of the art of millinery? I mean, you went to university to do this, is that correct?
SPEAKER_04I did, yeah. And there are generally there's just um one or two people per year doing it. It's a sort of very precise specialism. Um but it's got like it's done, it's taught within the Royal College of Art as part of their fashion course. So you could do it as part of either menswear or women's wear, though I don't know of anyone that's ever done it through the menswear um stream.
SPEAKER_05But um, so what do you what do you really I mean, your average day when you turn up to millinary school? Walk me through it.
SPEAKER_04Um there isn't really an average day, as you might expect. Um there are workshops, so you've got all of the specific equipment to using leathers and um all of the sort of hat-making specific things, the blocks and that side of things. There's also an amazing resource in terms of like woodworking workshops, so the and metalwork, and also uh sort of 3D printing and laser cutting. So there are so many techniques that you can sort of explore. But the way that the overall course was structured when I was there is that you'd be given a brief at the start of the start of a project, and you just go through a period of design development and working through prototyping and developing a collection around that brief. So a lot of the time I would just be in one of the workshops playing with materials and trying to get them to do new things.
SPEAKER_05Okay, and this might sound like a stupid question, but how many new ways can you make a hat?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there are some there are some amazing traditional methods and there are some really specific hat making materials. The felt that we use is only used for making hats. It's sort of has to be formed in a way that you then that allows it to be stretched over the shapes, and that's only really useful for the hat making industry. But what we're doing at the moment, we embrace that side of things, but uh we also try to introduce new materials and new methods. Like I know laser cutting's been around for many, many years now, but there are still new applications for it, and there's yeah, there are loads of things to explore. Like for the um last the first um collection that we did for menswear, we introduced a cap that's made out of a flat felt material, and we weave that through a pattern that's just one piece of fabric, it's woven through itself to create the cap shape. So there's there's a lot of experiment that you can do. There's huge amounts you can do with the traditional things, but there's always new things to do. And you can look outside of Millinbury as well in order to find sort of new ways of making hats. So we've got a lot of things that are based on. Well, originally we had some women's hats that were based on the sort of Christmas decorations that I grew up with, paper ones that unfolded into a honeycomb structure. And we introduced last season for women's wear some pieces that unfold like sort of traditional fans, so they've got supportive struts between fabric.
SPEAKER_05Um Yeah, you can find all that on your website. So if uh people want to have a look at that, it's um bollocks the the the seasonhats.com. Sorry, I lost the name for a second, it's went off my screen. Um just to be clear, it's not called bollocks seasons hats, it's just seasonshats.com.
SPEAKER_04I was going to thank you for the plug, but then there was surprise There was a surprise edition.
SPEAKER_05Um regarding trends, so you've just launched your new range um of menswear.
SPEAKER_04Well, what because it's the first time we've done menswear, I was allowed to be a little bit self-indulgent because this is the first time that I've been able to do a whole range of hats that I'd really quite like to wear, which did make it um it's a different design experience, which was rather fun. Um we're trying to we introduce some new materials. So there's a wool felt that we've not worked with before that just has a beautiful sheen to it. And there's also it's the first time that we've used cork in the collection. So what we've been trying to do is like it's an introduction to new materials. Everything that we do is very sort of I like to refer to it as a sort of soft graphicism. So it's uh it's um there's still a fluidity to it, but everything's relatively industrial. Um but in terms of trends, I'm not sure that I uh particularly sort of embrace something that feels like it's going to last briefly and then move on because uh you want to make pieces that people are going to uh keep and wear with uh all of their clothes for quite a while rather than something that they're going to put on enjoy once.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I think that it's old hat, so to speak.
SPEAKER_05Oh, very good. Yeah. Yeah, there are a number of those. Yeah, excellent. Uh oh, like a good pun, that's fantastic. Um I was thinking in regards to trends that um people associate with, say, current uh sitcoms or TV shows, uh movies that are out there, like the newsboy hats, I reckon, uh, are exploding right now thanks to the Peaky Blinders and the pork pies, for example, down to breaking beds. I was wondering if you'd noticed any kind of renaissance in a particular style.
SPEAKER_04Do you know? We've seen quite a lot of boaters, but I've no idea where they came from. Um it's uh it's a sort of a very sort of severe sort of a hat to wear, but uh I suppose you could tie it to uh anything sort of brighthead revisited related if you wish, but uh I suppose. I'm just trying to say I've it's odd when uh designers all seem to latch on to a similar idea, but you don't quite know where it comes from. There's just something sort of in the zeitgeist, nothing specific leading to it. Um but yeah, there have been a lot of yeah, loads of voters recently that and bucket hacks for women seem to be everywhere last season.
SPEAKER_05Paul, in terms of things going forward, how do you see your your collection expanding? So in terms of the menswear or more generally, the menswear side of uh your collection.
SPEAKER_04Menswear, like because it's the first one, I'm just sort of seeing how the reaction is to this. Like the woven cap that was a one-piece um the one fabric piece was um garnered quite a bit of attention, which is lovely. And I think that's uh part of the um process that we want to pursue. It's it's really nice just uh sitting with bits of fabric and bits of sort of cardboard or leather or cork and seeing what you can encourage the fabric to do. So at the start of a collection, I very rarely know where it's actually going to head. And I've got the sort of germ of an idea where that might be a an interesting starting point, but you sort of let the materials dictate where it's going to take you. So there's always an element of surprise. But I think focusing on yeah, just sort of more interesting construction and how to make uh something that's uh hat shaped and that people want to wear in a sort of interesting and modern manner.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, got ya. So how many um hats do you own then, Paul? Oh, there are loads. And how do you keep them? Because I've got quite a few hats, and I've ended up just stacking them almost like um like party cups on top of each other, and I just don't think that's doing them any favours.
SPEAKER_04On the level, that's a really sensible way to do it because each one's supporting the one above it. It really helps if you've got something sort of just a little bit of a support in between, so a bit of tissue paper or a sort of foam band that goes around the outside, but that's a great way to keep them in a happy shape. Like we've got many, many mannequin heads um around the studio, so they support things um very happily as well. Like if you keep them on your head, then that's the perfect place for them, really.
SPEAKER_05Um I'll tell you where I struggle is going abroad, and if I'm wearing my my fedora, my key piece, um, that's the sort of thing that I can't really wear on the plane um for long travel, and then I don't want to put it on the overhead. Um so I'm thinking, do I have to get some kind of bespoke case made for it?
SPEAKER_04What I do is just pack very carefully around them. So if you insert enough sort of soft clothing into the crown to support the shape and then sort of pack around the top as well so that it's sort of solidly supported and it's happy. The hardest one is when you're trying to support a very delicate women's hat, so one that's got feathers or silk flowers or something like that coming from it. It's not thankfully the sort of thing that we make, so we've not got um that problem. But the number of people that have to wear wedding hats on flights is the only way to do it. Um what we've we have like the fan hats and the ones that sort of concertina, they all fold fold completely flat. So those ones can be popped straight into. A case inside a bag, which makes life a lot easier. But yes, the the best options are either packing around them very carefully or wearing them. And you can get both in felt and in straw constructions that allow the hat to be rolled. So you'll able to get ones that roll into a tube, which makes air significantly easier.
SPEAKER_05That's a future. Okay, thanks, Paul. Thanks for jumping on that site again. Your site is theseasonhats.com and people should check that out. And you're on the social at the Season Hats, I take it. That's right. That's awesome, great. And lastly, just one tangential question. Is it possible to have the steel rim put into a bowler hat and throw it at length and kill somebody? Oh, certainly. It is great. Great, great. Brilliant.
SPEAKER_04I never wanted to burst that bubble. That would have to be a bespoke please, but I'm sure we can manage it.
SPEAKER_03Remarkable. But what does a club secretary have to say? Oh nothing, Mr. Vaughn. I own the club.
SPEAKER_05Timely goldfinger reference for you there. Okay, so we're going to get the women's perspective on menswear hats now by speaking to Raquel Marici, the grooming editor at Men's Wear Style. I'd like to welcome to the podcast now. Raquel Murici, the grooming editor for Men's Wear Style. How are you doing today, Raquel?
SPEAKER_02I'm great, thank you, Peter. How are you?
SPEAKER_05I'm fantastic. Uh so Raquel, tell us a little bit, give us the women's perspective on guys' hats. Uh, what are the main put-offs when it comes to dudes wearing hats?
SPEAKER_02Um initially, a main put-off would be if you're wearing the wrong kind of hat. Um you know, it it it might be that you like a particular style of hat, however, if it doesn't suit you, then you really can't wear it. So I think you have to really consider, you know, a face shape or maybe your hairstyle, how it sits underneath on top of your hair. Um and you know, think about that before before purchasing something because you could it could be an amazing hat, but you could destroy it. Um secondly, I really don't like the bucket hat. Um I think unless you are a fisherman, you it shouldn't you shouldn't wear one. But then again, I still don't really understand how how this kind of coincides with with a fisherman. I don't not really sure. Um I just I just don't really find it very flattering, to be honest.
SPEAKER_05Um I wonder if it's um for not wanting to sound elitist, it sounds a little uh it looks a little bit shabby because uh it's the sort of hat that people take to festivals and they they funk out in the festivals, but they have such a good time at the festivals that they can't part with it outside of it. So they it goes beyond the weekend, should we say.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and they've got like one side like propped up and then the other side, oh it just yeah, I just I'm not I'm not I'm not a fan of that one.
SPEAKER_06Not a great look.
SPEAKER_02Um also uh a safari kind of hat, you know, unless you're like Indiana Jones or um you know, or a cowboy hat if you're kind of James Dean, you know, I think that's probably something it's a real particular style, and I think that that's probably not as versatile to wear sort of day-to-day. So I mean it's not really a pet hate, but it's probably not my favourite.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that you don't see many safari hats around.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no, definitely not.
SPEAKER_05Um so what about hat styles you do like?
SPEAKER_02Um, well, I used to be a really big fan of the fedora, um, and then I spent a lot of time at Pity, and it seemed that unless you had a Fedora, were you even there? Um you know, every every man and his dog was wearing one with a feather in it. Um I still am a fan of it, but um I'd say at the moment I really love the flat cap. Um I think it's really versatile. And um, although you know it started as sort of like a countryside wear um in the UK, um, and then it kind of became popular in I think via the US um and men started wearing them with suits. You know, you could put a felt navy flat cap on with a suit and go to work like that, or you could alternatively wear a um a corduroy one or a uh wool flat cap and and then it works for like countryside wear. Um and it just it it's got a kind of you know, you can you can smarten it up or you can also make it look more like uh sporty casual, you know, like a working hat.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, and it's really traditional, isn't it? It's it's probably the one hat that's never really gone out. So that's interesting that you went to Pity though. So that every every dude in town brought their fedora, you know. It sounds like they had a special case and uh packed it separately on the plane, and this was their weapon of choice.
SPEAKER_02It's true, it really is true. I mean, you know every guy there near enough has worn a fedora at some point during Pity.
SPEAKER_05Well, I mean it's a good hat, but yeah, it can it can be overdone. It sounds like it's getting a bit saturated. So what kind of hats do you rock when you're out about?
SPEAKER_02Me, um well, um I mean, yeah, like I said I used to be a fan of the fedora, like a really lovely like porcelino in like a nice navy cross thing. I well I first actually originally when I first bought it I thought it was black, and everyone because I've got really dark hair, so I thought black would just look the best really. And then um everyone kept telling me it was blue, so actually it's blue. Um, but recently I actually bought a red beret. So um I'm venturing out into that one a little bit. I'm still trying to get used to that to how it looks on me. I'm not sure if it really suits me yet, but um at the moment I'm really enjoying that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, if we'll have to post something in the show notes and then put it to a public vote.
SPEAKER_02Okay, we'll try that one.
SPEAKER_05Well, cheers Raquel, thanks a lot for joining us. It's always good to get the the female's perspective.
SPEAKER_02You're welcome, thank you.
SPEAKER_05See you next time. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, bye-bye.
SPEAKER_05Thank you, Raquel. Okay, so we're on the home straight now, just one more to go. We've got Alec the Hatmaker, he's a millionaire from Milan, and he's gonna tell us about some trends that are happening right now out in the fashions capital. Okay, so on the podcast now, I'd like to introduce Alec the Hatmaker, who's based out in Milan. How are you doing today, Alec? I uh thank you for having me here. I'm very good. You're very welcome. Alec, so uh tell us a little bit about yourself, please, and how you got into the art of hat making.
SPEAKER_00I'm Alec, I'm uh 26 year old. I I live in Milan uh since uh I was a child. And uh I started to do uh hat making uh when I well my family always worked in the the fashion industry. So let's say I was bound to be uh to work in fashion, let's say. And I found my interest uh my passion let's say in in the hats. I really enjoy hats uh because for me they are the accessory um most uh the most beautiful for me, the most characteristic and the most the one with most possibility.
SPEAKER_05Okay, great.
SPEAKER_00And so how long have you been making hats? I've been making hats for four years now, and I started uh from a master hatmaker in Milan that uh have uh worked for uh 40, 50 years. Wow and I yes it's uh it's really insane. It's one I I really enjoyed the art making because uh for its passion in the hat making it was uh really unbelievable. Every day, all the day was really only making hats, and it was really enjoying and it transmitted this passion to me, and now let's say I will I will hope I will walk the same path with hats because I this is my dream, let's say.
SPEAKER_05So, what have what's going on out there? Have you got your own shop or do you sell them independently uh online to your friends? How does it work?
SPEAKER_00Right now right now uh we are moving um onto a new laboratory so I can start making ads for more people because uh all the ads I make are handmade, so let's say I can't have uh a lot of clients right now because I don't have the time and the materials to do everything. So right now it's uh more of a circle of uh friends and uh so with social I said a lot with Instagram. I really have a lot of um uh liking for my hats. I really enjoy this because from everywhere the world of everywhere in the world they enjoy my hats, and this is really cool for me.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you're really cool on Instagram, mate. I do follow you. Um I forgot the name. Is it Alec the Hat Maker on Instagram? Yes, yeah, yes, yeah, we'll put it all in the show notes. So you're in the the capital fashion of the world out in Milan, right? So what are the current hat trends happening out in Milan right now?
SPEAKER_00Well in Milan uh it's uh it's uh a lot uh with classical uh arts like the Fedora, the Borsolino, the Porquayat, and now it's returning a lot the the bowler and the this uh cylinder cylinder. Yes, the cylinder is returning a lot right now, and so I'm trying to work a lot with them because they are uh they are very, very cool uh type of hat because they are really there is there is a lot of work to do on them. It's really really good.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it was sorry Carl, I was just gonna ask what's the toughest hat to make, but yeah, I think you were gonna get onto that.
SPEAKER_00Uh toughest hat is probably the cylinder. It's really hard to work with it. No, it's not really hard to work with it, it's really hard to made. Because uh the the the felt is really hard to work on uh on the cylinder. But uh when it when uh when it came good it's really really beautiful.
SPEAKER_05Uh-huh. Cool. Well, cheers Alec, thanks for jumping on. So it's good to know what's going out in Milan, mainly the fedoras. I've I've heard out in Italy um uh we were speaking earlier about how the fedora is just hu huge out in pity uh for the latest fashion show right now. Everyone's wearing them and it seems like it's becoming a bit more ubiquitous. Um here in the UK.
SPEAKER_00Yes, the Fedora and the Borsolino in Italy are really I think they mostly most of the people use them. It's like uh nowadays uh I in pity every like uh 90% of people have ads and have a fedora or borsolino. It was really really really strange and really really nice. Because uh last year it wasn't like this. I went to Pit last year and there wasn't a lot of uh ads like uh like this year. I really um this is good for me.
SPEAKER_05Right time to get into the trade, right? Yeah, yeah. Excellent, cool. Alright, brilliant. Thanks, Alec. Okay, so uh everyone just jump on the Instagram and have a look at what Alec's doing. Uh he posts some really cool pictures and his hats are amazing. So okay, alright, good to speak to you. And next time I'm in Milan, I'll give you a call.
SPEAKER_00Okay, of course. Thank you for being here. Have a nice day.
SPEAKER_05Cheers, Alec, take care, mate. Bye-bye. Thank you, Alec the Hat Maker, and thank you to all of my guests on the show this week. I'd like to thank Galile from Lead Hatters, Paul Stafford from The Season Hats, Raquel Marici, our grooming editor, here, and you the listener for joining us. If you like what you hear, do subscribe, download, share, like, tell a friend, all that gubbins. It really does help and it will keep me in a job.
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