Hat About Town
Hats are more than just fashion accessories; they're works of art. Every hat tells a story, some hats possess a rich history, and others hold sentimental value. Motivated by the untold stories and unheard voices of those within the fashion millinery and headwear industry, I launched Hatabouttown in 2012. To share my love, expertise, and admiration for hats and those who made them.
Initially, I planned to gather a hundred or so 'hat-focused' street-style portraits of fashionable Londoners during L.F.W.; however, the project soon evolved when I started conversing with each individual and including short quotes and stories alongside my photos. With this new format, Hat About Town grew rapidly within the headwear industry. This resulted in me meeting Fashion milliner Keely Hunter who invited me into her studio for a hat-making masterclass and introduced me to celebrity milliners like Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy. I received private invitations to prestigious fashion millinery events like the British Fashion Council's Headonism and Kensington and Chelsea College alumni exhibitions, where I was invited as a special guest to speak to the students on branding, creativity, and purpose.
In months, I disrupted the industry with my passion, innovation, and unique approach to branding and digital marketing. Which caught the attention of Royal warrant holders Lock and Co Hatters, who hired me as Head of Marketing to help guide them into the future, resulting in me spearheading Lock and Co Hatter's move from traditional P.R. to digital and securing collaborations with culturally relevant brands like Carhartt, and United Arrows.
Over the years, I have taken Hat About Town across Asia, Europe, and the United States, growing a global niche community of hat lovers, sharing stories and experiences, and forming deep connections with strangers over our shared love of hats. Along the journey, I have met some incredible individuals like the late jazz flutist, composer, and visual artists Lloyd McNeill, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting randomly in Soho, New York, back in 2013. We were both rushing in different directions but stopped to complement each other's hats and ended up speaking for an hour about art, style, and life, where Mr. McNeil shared some rather remarkable stories about his friendship with Nina Simone and Pablo Picasso.
Hat About Town continues to be a space where like-minded, passionate people can form community, trade ideas, and inspire one another and in so doing, evolve our craft. Through Hat About Town, over the years I have been able to cultivate relationships all over the world across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Some of whom have become dear friends of mine. Like hat makers René Mantilla of René Mantilla Chapeaux, Paolo Votano of N.T.T.E. Hats, and Daniel Nyström of Daniel Nyström. More recently, I've even had the opportunity to partner and join forces with Mark Harris implementing The Hatterist, The world's first digital agency for hats.
What started as a 'hat-focused' Tumblr and Instagram account sharing a series of interviews that explored the intersection of culture, identity, and self-expression has since evolved into a global hat community, a hat ecosystem that supports emerging hat makers and designers. Hat About Town creates community through trust, innovation, and experiences. It exists as a platform that allows me to be a hands-on builder and collaborator committed to deepening the human connection by sharing real stories by real people.
Every hat tells a story; what's yours?
