THE ARETHA HAT IS STILL A HOT ITEM

The Aretha Franklin hat worn to President Obama's inauguration was made by Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit

Luke Song, creator of Aretha Franklin hat

Although the inauguration is a distant memory, the infamous bow hat worn by Aretha Franklin has not faded in popularity. Song (who designed the hat) has over 5,000 orders for the spring version in pastels (for $179).

Ms. Franklin is lending the hat to the Smithsonian, where it will be on display until it moves to Mr. Obama’s presidential library.

Song made three different hats for Franklin, and learned which one she would wear while watching her sing at the inauguration on the television.

“I’m so glad she chose that one.” he said. “It was the one I was pushing her to wear.”

Song’s work has become so popular that his business, Moza Incorporated is expected do six to seven times more business this year. Song told the media he would like to double his workforce (he has 11 people) if he could find experienced seamstresses (there’s a job in waiting if you want to live in Detroit).

The only problem, he said, is that millinery “is a dead art.”

Song, 36, had no intention of taking over his parent’s hat business. After studying biochemistry in college, he left one semester short of a degree to pursue art studies at Parsons the New School for Design in New York.

But he became burdened with student loans and had no evident way to pay them off. The answer, he found, lay in hats.

An early success came in a hat he designed from a chicken-wire base and covered with silk, chiffon and trimmings (the hat cost $200 and up).

“With that success Song paid off his student loans and embraced a millinery career, seeing it as a parallel to the principles of sculpture that he studied,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.

Today, he is helped by his parents, who supervise a workroom of six, who turn out about 100 hats a day, many custom orders. One seamstress is devoted entirely to applying lace.

His sister, Lillian, manages orders, and said, “We haven’t slept since the inaugural.”

We hear Song is not happy that the hat has been copied, but we know in the hat trade (as well as in apparel) any good style will be copied. In a perfect world, maybe not, but in this one, it’s the order of the day. (Perhaps he does not know that imitation is the best form of flattery).

The spring version of the Franklin hat is made of reinforced silk ribbon, stitched into a circle from the center outward, and then shaped over a hat form so that it becomes a cap.

Song then builds up the front of the hat, steaming the fabric to create a sort of ledge that slopes down to the back. Without the extra structure, the bow would simply sink; with it, the decoration sits firmly in place, drawing attention above the wearer’s eyes, the hat elevating the entire face.

Ms. Franklin, a customer for 20 years, is the best known of Mr. Song’s buyers, who wear their hats to churches, synagogues and tea parties, and often display them in transparent boxes in their homes.

Entering his shop “is like eye candy for a woman,” said Crisette Ellis, the wife of Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the pastor of Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, and one of the city’s most prominent churchwomen.

“Mrs. Ellis, who owns three Mr. Song hats, said she was surprised at the fuss over Ms. Franklin’s hat, which she considered to be subdued. ‘In the black community, women wear hats, and sometimes the more ‘bling bling’ you have, the better,’” she said.

Song’s hats are priced from $200 to $900, but he makes tams (or berets) two for $10.

We hear the Aretha Hat caught the eye of Queen Elizabeth, although she has not placed an order.

Mr. Song said he would love to sell a hat to Michelle Obama (I am sure the rest of the hat industry would like to do the same thing).

Kudos to Song and his family.

Delois Dawkins of Flint, Mich., shopping at Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit, where each piece is hand-sewn.

The business was started by Han and Jin Song, after they emigrated from South Korea in 1982. Photo: Fabrizio Costantini

Mr. Song is helped by his parents, who supervise a workroom where six women make 100 hats a day. One seamstress's time is devoted entirely to applying lace.

Mr. Song's sister, Lillian, manages orders. "We haven't slept since the inaugural," she said.

Interest in Mr. Song's work has exploded so much that he expects his business, Moza Incorporated, which recorded $1 million in sales during 2008, to do six to seven times more than that this year.

Entering his shop "is like eye candy for a woman," said Crisette Ellis, the wife of Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the pastor of Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, and one of the city's most prominent churchwomen. "You don't know which one to pick."

Delois Dawkins from Flint, Mich., tried on hats at Mr. Song Millinery

Aretha Franklin in her hat by Song