Super Duper Hats interview!

Maybe Garance and her hat obsession made me realize some months ago that street style photographers were featuring more and more pictures of girls with hats. Or maybe it was even the fact that I could see these girls by myself on the street (something that highlights even more that Hat-ed girls were not seen only in fashionable NY or Paris but also in Athens or Florence)!

BUT the fact is that more and more online and on-life I see girls wearing hats and I was -and am- really interested to see if this trend is something that magazines are trying to push or is it a sudden coolness of girls and boys wearing their fedora hats in the most amazing colors and not care -not even for a minute- for the fact that...ermmm they have something on their head!

So when on January I met Veronica and Ilaria at the LuisaViaRoma party and they told me that they actually made the hats that they were wearing by themselves, I came to the conclusion that maybe hats is not only a trend! It can be a true business in the year of 2011! As you can guess...I had to interview them and learn more about their brand! Enjoy Super Duper Hats as much as Vogue.it does these days!

Two girls and one guy! How did you meet and Why did you choose to design hats in particular?

We met during a master at the Eindhoven university, the work was based on how to integrate technology in textiles. Then we became a little family, Veronica and Ilaria are sisters and Matteo is the Veronica's boyfriend....we chose to design hats because they are a real passion for us, we always used and loved hats. We were fascinated with the history of this unique object so carefully carved. Our curiosity towards the charm of an older generation of handicraftsmen and their techniques of manufacturing grew as did their awareness of the richness of a kind of work made with special passion an care.

What do hats represent to you and why do you think that women and men should start wearing hats again? Who is your ideal client?

First, hats are beautiful, second, we think that our hats are perfect for a person who dares to complete her own look with a stylish accessory that allows her to stand out for her elegance and refinement, for somebody who is looking for a sophisticated detail full of personality.
The research behind SuperDuperHats is aimed to create in each hat its magic and unique aura in order to nullify the transience of the contemporary fashion product.

The hat-trend was absent for quite some years but especially in the SS11 and AW11-12 it seems like designers are really trying to push the revival of the trend!
Why do you think people started paying attention to hats after so many years again?

A lot of fashion collection recall to something vintage, and in the passed Era hats was very important for a cool look, the hats had the same importance that nowadays have mobile phone, nobody goes out without it!

Are SuperDuper Hats handmade?

Every SuperDuper hat is totally handmade by Matteo, Veronica and Ilaria. SuperDuper exists because our hands work with care for hours, transforming a high quality raw material in an authentic handcraft product. A hat becomes a SuperDuper only if we are truly satisfied with the final result and if we are the first ones willing to wear it.

SuperDuperHats plays with old shapes and volumes, transforming them in suggestive and desirable gemstones, whose strong point is their current and unusual nature. SuperDuperHats are modern, yet they seem to magically wear a perfume of history. When you see them you can clearly feel how people used to make hats, yet you are sure they will never pass.The research behind SuperDuperHats wishes to give each hat its magic and unique aura in order to nullify the transience of the contemporary fashion product.

...And what about your inspiration?

SuperDuper Hats collections plays with retro shapes and volumes by looking back to the roaring 1920's. Wrapping bonnets, metropolitan gangter design: Each hat has its own contemporary, sophisticated allure.
Cuts, shapes, and leitmotivs recall those classic hats one can find in old, black&white pictures.

A huge Thank You to Matteo, Veronica and Ilaria! Don't forget to visit their web page at superduperhats.com