How Our Hats Come to Life
When you put on one of our hats, you’re not just wearing an accessory, you’re wearing the result of a journey that stretches across workshops, continents, and countless conversations. Every collection begins with a question: What do our customers want to wear, and how can we make it extraordinary? The answer comes through a design process rooted in partnership, travel, and collaboration.
Partnering With the Makers
We don’t design hats in isolation. From the very beginning, our collections have been created hand-in-hand with some of the world’s most respected master craftsmen of hat making. These are small, family-run companies, in Italy, Ecuador, and the United States, who have been shaping brims and crowns for generations. Working with them means tapping into a wealth of expertise while adding our own vision for modern wearability.
Traveling to the Workshops
Design doesn’t happen from behind a desk. Our buyer travels directly to the workshops where these hats are made. In Montappone, Italy, we walk the floor with Sorbatti as artisans block wool and linen brims by hand and Hats & Brothers, whose workshop specializes in crafting men’s caps, a cornerstone of our Belfry Italia collection. In Florence, we sit down with Tesi to review felts and shapes that will became the Merino wool brim collection, known internally as the Tesi Traveler. Stateside, we partnered with American hat makers Bollman and Korber to create the Handmade for Belfry collection. In Pennsylvania, Bollman helped us shape the Luxe Wool line with jazz era inspiration, while Korber refined Heritage Panama silhouettes with a distinctly American touch. Together, they bring timeless U.S. craftsmanship to our collection. These trips aren’t just business, they’re where ideas take form.
Ferruccio Vecchi, Italy
Creating Collections Together
The collections you see in our stores are born from these collaborations. The Tesi Traveler came from the idea of creating a Merino wool brim that was stylish, structured, and resilient enough for life on the go. Working with Tesi’s craftsmen, we refined crown shapes and brims until the balance felt just right. With Sorbatti, the Linen Brim line grew out of a shared love for linen’s natural strength and breathability. We wanted hats that were crisp and structured but also easy to wear in summer heat, Sorbatti’s expertise made that possible. They are also responsible for most of our wool stingy brims. Both lines being some of our best received and loved by our customers. With Hats & Brothers, every cap begins with Italian tailoring and the world’s finest materials, from soft cashmere to supple leathers and breathable linen. Our shared love a beautiful fabrics birthed a line rich hues, timeless prints, and what we like to call unsolids, caps with subtle textures or patterns that pair as effortlessly as a solid while adding just a touch more character. Our Jazz inspired Luxe Wool with Bollman began with a look back at the silhouettes of the 1920s and ’30s. Together we modernized those classic lines, bringing them forward with the richness of cashmere in a true deep black. With Korber, the focus was on Heritage Panamas, timeless silhouettes crafted with Ecuadorian straw but finished with American precision. The result is a collection that feels both classic and distinctly our own.
From Concept to Hats You'll Love
By the time a hat reaches the store, it has passed through countless conversations, revisions, and refinements. It carries the hand of the maker, the vision of our team, and the voice of our customers. That’s what makes it special. When you wear one of our hats, you’re wearing the product of travel, partnership, and creativity, a piece that reflects not just superior materials and craftsmanship, but the care of everyone who touched it along the way.
That’s our design process: rooted in heritage, refined through partnership, and made to be worn and loved.
