Everything
Started with
an Old
Cowboy Hat
NICK FOUQUET
I prefer quality objects to items of fast and cheap consumption. To me, quality means luxury, and luxury is timeless. Craftsmanship symbolizes the early days of any current luxury brand.
Everything
Started with
an Old
Cowboy Hat
Hats off to Nick Fouquet! Literally, as he is the founder of the custom made hat brand that bears his name. Born in 1982 in France, Fouquet presently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He defines his own style as “surfer with a Huck Finn spirit”. He has long blonde hair and a scruffy-chic look. He has traveled all over: Florida, Patagonia, Nepal, Morocco, New Zealand, Thailand, Peru, Brazil, New York City and Colorado. This all-encompassing experience has helped him to channel his creativity. He likes meditating, meeting friends and reading. We asked him some questions: here’s what he had to say.
○ When did your passion for craftsmanship begin?
It’s always been a part of me. I prefer quality objects to items of fast and cheap consumption. To me, quality means luxury, and luxury is timeless. Craftsmanship symbolizes the early days of any current luxury brand.
○ Why did you choose to make hats?
When I first started out, hats were a niche product category, one where it was easier to experiment. I wanted to create a brand that could translate my creativity and vision into something tangible. The world of fashion and craftsmanship was full of denims and shirts, while hats were mostly unknown. Little had changed in over 100 years, and the only hats around were in black grosgrain…
○ How do you feel when you create your own masterpieces?
I try to enjoy the moment and work hard. Sometimes I fail, no doubt about it, but I am focused on my target. While working I listen to music, mostly Native American and Indian. I have to say that, in my case, it works. It really does.
○ Tell me your story: when did you decide to start your own brand?
Some years ago, I found a cowboy hat and began to wonder who had made it. It was really beautiful. Over the next few days my mind was full of questions until I finally said to myself: let’s try to make one. I gathered a collection of old tools and instruments; it was not easy to find them, as the craft is often handed down from one generation to another. What’s more, the very technique of hatmaking never really evolved. With my brand, however, I tried to experiment with different techniques, materials and designs…
The very technique of hatmaking never really evolved. With my brand, however, I tried to experiment with different techniques, materials and designs…
○ Your hats always carry a small match, your style signature. Why did you choose this element?
It represents the spark of creativity. I’m always losing cigarette lighters, so I thought I could place a match on every hat.
○ What’s your source of inspiration when you create hats?
Everything inspires me. My life, first of all. Then music, nature, the Ocean, my travels, people I meet… I know this may seem a bit cliché, but it’s true.
○ What is a hat, for you?
It’s the story of the person wearing it. It’s something personal and magical. It’s an interesting accessory, both fashionable and useful, and these qualities change its attitude.
○ Where did you “study” to become a craftsman?
I studied and I didn’t (he laughs). I learned a lot while working on industrial sewing machines, and I had a special mentor, a true master: Christophe Loirent. However, hatmaking is a secret art: you need to understand it on your own, give it shape yourself… And it’s something you learn day by day, simply by doing it.
○ Do you think the future lies in craftsmanship?
Yes. I think that, in the future, people will understand the passion and love for this job.
○ What is style for you? And fashion?
Style is everything, it is your story. Fashion, on the other hand, changes: it can be nonconformist, multifaceted. I have a love-hate relationship with fashion.
○ Why did you choose to work in California?
I lived in many different cities before I finally chose to live in Los Angeles. This is my home today and I really love it, because I can go surfing early in the morning before
I start to work, and on the week-end I can visit the desert.
○ Do you still have a dream you would like to fulfill?
I would like to open a new store.
○ What’s your favorite memory in your career?
To see Pharrell Williams wearing my hats at the Grammy Awards. It was a huge success, but I didn’t realize how big it was at the time…
○ Why is “handmade” so important to you?
Because it is something made with love, like Grandma’s cookies…
○ What do you do in your free time?
I love surfing, reading, meditating, going out with friends and laughing. I love laughing.
○ What are your hats made of?
Felt, leather, linen, cotton… It depends on the model.
○ How long does it take to you to make a hat?
That too depends on the model… it can take from 2 hours to 2 days.
○ Are you happy?
Yes, I’m very happy. It’s life that makes me so happy.
○ Is there a celebrity you would like to make a hat for?
The Dalai Lama. ●
