How This Celeb-Favorite Hatmaker Designs His $1,000 Hats

[Music] this is Nick bouquet even if his face doesn't look familiar to you the faces underneath the brims of his expertly crafted hats definitely will Nick and his team send out around 6,000 hats a year from their Venice Beach shop while the hats have become regulars and fashion magazines and at red-carpet events they're also made for people who just really appreciate a good hat and who are willing to pay up to $1,000 for one so what exactly goes into making a luxury hat and what puts the price tag in the realm of designer bags or heels making is is a secret trade and a craft that either gets passed down from generation to generation or you can apprentice under somebody but generally it's such a secretive trade and and something that that's so personal that most people don't really reveal the secret so it's only through trial and error lucky for us it gave us an inside look at the process his namesake brand has honed in on refined over years of experimentation the process is so detailed that by the time it's over what's left is not just a hat but a wearable piece of art if he had a signature it'd be these fur felt masterpieces the process will vary among clients and desired outcomes but generally each new hat starts with a healthy dose of steam steaming the fabric makes it pliable so that Nick can shape it into the basic body of the Hat which he does by stretching it over a wooden block he uses an iron to flatten down the brim of the Hat once in shape it dries for up to 24 hours after drying the felt is smooth with a sander the brim is trimmed to the requested width and sanded once again a logo branded sweatband gets sewn into the base of the brim which will help the Hat keep its shape by this stage Nick's hats are smooth and perfectly shaped which makes it all the more interesting when he decides to set one of those hats on fire fire has been a technique in hat making that's been around since really the beginning to sort of burn off the extra fibers that are on the hot we just took it a step or two further and letting it you know sort of magically patina in its own way with the products that we use it comes out with this really unique sort of aged style much like what jeans have done in the last 10-15 years with a bit of like washing and distressing to give it that that already worn in look and I think a lot of my clients and a lot of people really you know really love the idea of something that is new but feels vintage it's really hard to quantify how long it takes a hot there's so many processes involved but generally we like to really sort of take our time and and make sure that you know every component is is done right so it could be anywhere from three four days to a week to really make a hot perfect but what exactly makes these hats cost so much first of all the price of fur Pelt is extremely expensive we pride ourselves in getting the best material possible and then on top of the cost of the fur felt and the leathers and everything that gets involved in the packaging is is really expensive because we do it at the utmost quality it's also the craftsmanship that we've learned and that we perfected over the years in this in this unique style that that we've adopted and made that is what is niku cane that stands out besides all the other Ren Nick's hats have stood out enough for his brand to become Hollywood's go-to forehead wear but this celebrity designer status wasn't exactly what he was aiming for I started making hats purely by chance by accident I think a lot of the times people would ask me like are you the Mad Hatter either matters by the nature of what my design was and I always say yeah you got to be I am the Mad Hatter because you got to be really crazy to want to start a hat business and it's been really challenging but you know it all spawned from from passion and I think that's like what is the most important thing and what keeps me going I love what I do and I'm so passionate about it [Music] you

Channel: Insider

Views: 3,113,611

Rating: 4.8645782 out of 5

Keywords: INSIDER, hat, hatmaker, hatter, Venice beach, celebrity, design, style, Nick Fouquet, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Pharrell, LeBron James

Id: FSjwUNivmS8

Length: 5min 10sec (310 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 15 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/poundfoolishhh]

Insert lots of reasons why a hat could cost so much

Actual reason: because people will pay for it.

[u/neighborlyglove]

Nick sends out about 6,000 hats to Johnny Depp each year

[u/The_Ma1o_Man]

I mean it's cool that he has the skill and perfected his own style of hat making, but IMO those hats are kind of ugly. If people are into that style though, hats off to 'em.

[u/TostedAlmond]

Definitely wasn't as interesting as I was expecting lol