Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-07-22)

THE COMPETITION

• With prices
  starting at $49,
  Wyeth, also based
  in L.A., has a wide
  variety of beach
  hats and crushable
  derbies with sweet
  details like raffia
  crochet strips and
  grosgrain ribbons.


• The granddaddy
  for aficionados
  is Italian brand
  Borsalino, which has
  madeimpeccable
  capssince1857.
  Optionsinclude

67

THE ONE Bloomberg Pursuits

Carefree style meets quality construction in a

chic straw chapeau. Photograph by Robin Stein

The Original

Sunblock

There’s no such
thing as a neutral
hat, or so the saying
goes, and never
are the sartorial
stakes higher than
in summer. Hot
days demand a
topper that blocks
the sun without
locking in the
temperature. Enter
Janessa Leoné,
an English major-
turned-designer
whose eponymous
Los Angeles-based
brand sells straw
fedoras, boaters,
and more that

THE CASE

Leoné’s pieces are

fabricated out of

straw sourced from

Latin America and

woven by a single

artisan. It’s a process

that takes more

than eight hours

but yields high-

quality construction

intended to last

many seasons. The

classical shapes

and minimal design

accents, such as

the elegant black

stripes on the Eloise,

make a simple, bold

statement—whether

in Miami or the

Mediterranean.

$250; janessa

leone.com

are handwoven in

the U.S. Her $250

Eloise hat is wide

enough at the brim

to offer shade—or

privacy, for the chic

introvert—but light

enough to give it

a breathability

normally

achieved by

mesh alone.

travel-friendly

woven hemp

sombreros with a

brim wide enough

to cover your

shoulders ($425)

and asymmetrical

fedoras in turquoise

($395).

• An advanced
  move in hat circles
  is to wear New
  York-based NTTE,
  which offers
  one-of-a-kind,
  deconstructed
  straw and leather
  cowboy hats and
  other vintage
  numbers in its Boho
  Rock line. Prices
  hover around
  $500.