Ciao!
Over the past nine years we've produced samples and short runs of hats for a number of small and not so small brands. It's always a good chance to bounce ideas round with new people and try out new ideas and fabrics. It rarely involves international travel but then Armando got in touch.
Headwear Research (originally Top Cap) began as a Tumblr account posting the best and most interesting hats from around the web and the world.
May 2023 saw the first Headwear Research product, CPA-6P01. An unstructured baseball cap, hand made in Japan using Japanese Ventile fabric. For CPA-6P02 Armando approached Long Shot to create a cap suitable for the colder months of the Northern hemisphere.
A few ideas for fabric were passed back and forth but when Armando came across some deadstock Italian wool from Gucci's winter coat production, it was clear we'd found a winner. To add winter utility to CPA-6P02 we developed removable earflaps, a nod to the Deerstalkers once favoured by football casuals with a wearable, modern outlook.
The release party for CPA-6P02 took place on 30 November 2023 at the studio of Firm.GS in Milano. Sounds were provided by Alan Tamir and DJ Okovic, heads were in attendance, hats were flying and minds were blown.
Grazie mille to my Milano famiglia, see you in the Spring.
