MAKINS HATS CELEBRATES THEIR 35TH ANNIVERSARY

It’s been 35 years since Marsha Akins set out to conquer the hat-making trade. She started MAKINS HATS in her fourth-floor walk-up, one-room apartment on an unemployment check in September 1975. Determined to be her own boss (after working as a secretary) Akins blocked her hats on a jiffy steamer in her kitchen, baked them in her oven and sewed them on her home sewing machine. She put her samples into a green plastic garbage bag and walked from store to store in Manhattan showing her designs.

In 1977 Akins was awarded the Coty American Fashion Critics Award for “injecting excitement into the long dormant category of men’s headwear.” It was the first Coty Award ever given for men’s hats. She was also chosen as the 1983 Cutty Sark Men’s Fashion Award for Outstanding U.S. Accessories Designer.

Makins hats are made in the US by hand with an architectural and textural bent.

When asked about her 35-year history, Akin had this to say: “I have learned to stay true to my principles and what I believe in. That means never compromising on my hats, never trying to shave pennies off the quality of my hats and never, ever, trying to be something I am not. My hats are the same now as they were 35 years ago.”

For fall 2009 Makins has a fabric braid collection of velour textures in prints and two-tone colorations. “Each my hats is produced by hand in the traditional concept of craftsmanship and quality.”

Makins Hats - 212-594-6666 - www.makinshats.com

Vintage Marsha Akins