ANATOMY OF HAT WEARING CIRCA 2008

I think everyone in the headwear industry asks themselves the same question, “Why don’t more people wear hats?”

I myself can’t figure it out. Last Saturday I was at Roger’s Beach Club in Westhampton, Long Island (the Tony Hamptons I add) and no one was wearing a hat.

Again, I ask myself, “Why.”

I say this not because hats are a must have fashion item (although I wear one every day in South Florida), but because the increase of Melanoma among young women is substantial. Not only that - wrinkles are a lot less flattering on a woman’s face than any goofy hat.

Last week I had the good fortune to interview a local billionaire (self-made I might add) and when he found out my __ birthday was next Monday, he replied, “Have you had a face-lift?” I told him I wear hats all the time. His next question was, “what type of moisturizer do you use?”

The reason I bring this up is that NOW is the time to address this Laissez-faire attitude toward wearing a hat. The media keeps telling women to wear sunscreen, yet seldom do they say, “Protect yourself with a hat.”

That’s why it is imperative that the headwear industry address this issue yesterday, not tomorrow. The Miami Swimsuit shows were last weekend and that event is the perfect venue to give away hats. Fashion shows are where the media hangs out. They look for stories that the public then covets like a new Chanel handbag. If you give hats away and stage a hat event at fashion shows such as 7th on Sixth (now called Mercedes-Benz fashion week) and the Miami Swimwear shows, then you capture an important segment of the population.

The New York Runway Shows are now being produced by Mercedes-Benz and IMG Fashion. The headwear industry needs to contact Mercedes-Benz or IMG Fashion and offer to make logo bearing hats with a band on the inside that reads, “Liberate yourself from Aging, Wear a Hat.”

There are dozens of important magazine and newspaper editors at these shows. If you can convince them to wear hats, their readers will fall into place.

I am amazed that women will fork over big bucks for Botox (poison), laser treatments and facelifts instead of just wearing a hat. What Gives here?

So, I leave this question in the hands of You, The Headwear Industry.

There is a big fashion show September 5 to 12th in NYC. I know the executive in charge of IMG Artists, if you need me to contact them, let me know.

IMG Fashion, 304 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
phone: 646-871-2400 - fax: 212-772-0899

Spring 2009 Collections • September 5 - 12, 2008 • New York