[lifestyle ] Borsalino looks ahead with cool bucket hats, baseball caps

[_Happy boy]

The fedora Humphrey Bogart wore in Casablanca may have secured Borsalinos place in fashion and cinematic history but it will be something like the cow-print bucket hat that will help ensure its future. The storied Italian hat-maker still makes its felt hats by hand in a Piedmont region factory using the same artisanal techniques from when the company was founded in 1857 and some of founder Giuseppe Borsalinos original machinery It is updating its offerings for next fall and winter with a focus on customisation and youth-trends.

The new collection displayed during Milan Fashion Week takes inspiration from the Arts Crafts design movement in mid-19th century Britain Hat pins with leaf and floral motifs allow women to uniquely shape the hats to take up an oversized brim say or to create an elegant fold in the crown.

A leopard fedora can be paired with a long chain to wear over the shoulder when going in and out of shops while a clochard has an optional leather corset.

“You cannot change a hat so much,” Giacomo Santucci Borsalinos creative curator said. “You can change the attitude of the hat.”

Unisex styles including baseball caps berets and bucket hats come in updated new materials including a spotted cow print black patent leather and rainproof nylon Such genderless looks are becoming an increasingly important part of the collection Santucci said.

“The hat is no longer a tool to cover yourself but to discover yourself,” he told The Associated Press. The company which relaunched three years ago was in the process of scaling up production from 150000 hats a year to a goal of half a million when the pandemic hit.

“To be honest it is such a small company in a way it is very simple to react,” said Santucci who is also the current president of the Italian Chamber of Buyers “The smaller you are the more reactive and prompt.”

Beyond new styles that means getting people talking Santucci who was Gucci CEO during the Tom Ford era created a new film for this season featuring Milanese women who chose hats to match their styles striding through the center of the city Last seasons film featured dancers from Alessandria site of the original Borsalino factory dancing through the factory floor.
“My strong belief is that fashion is becoming more and more a discussion,” Santucci said

New social media platforms like Clubhouse are giving people the chance to create a limited and select group to discuss relevant topics which Santucci said has been key during the isolation imposed by the pandemic. He also has pursued collaborations with ready to wear brands including Borsalino X Valentino.

“Brands are changing It is getting closer to entertainment to give people the chance to engage with the brand to understand it better Not only to understand what was done in the past but to really interact and to have the chance to be part of the same community,” Santucci said.

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