Kangol headwear is going to be worn in the new Martin Scorsese film, The Departed. The film will be made in NYC and will feature Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nickelson and Alec Baldwin. We hear they have requested many Bailey and Kangol hats for the film. “ They went nuts for the new Bailey Signature collection,” said Paula Calvert, Marketing Director. Kangol hats are also in the movie Miss Congeniality 2. Kangol's White Project is celebrating its heritage with collaboration from designers ALife, Julie Verhoeven and Peter Jensen. Kangol will be celebrating this occasion in June, but so far we hear it’s a secret. Kangol recently moved to 411 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor in NYC

Jamie foxx was recently photographed in a Makins two-tone panama porkpie. He also wore a Makins leather fedora while being interviewed by Star Jones (now that’s a woman you should ship some hats to). Justin Timberlake is wearing a Makins tri-tone panama porkpie in his new video with snoop dog.

BRING ON THE ROYALS: California hat maker Mark Mejia created a Duchess of Cornwall like wedding hat and is selling it on the Internet. The original wide-brimmed natural straw hat overlaid with ivory French lace and trimmed with feathers was made by celebrity London milliner Philip Treacy, and came with a hefty price tag. Mejia's version, made of English imperial white sinemay, sells for $119. He hopes that this moderate priced royal wedding hat will spark further hat wearing this summer. Mejia’s Web site is, www.baronhats.com, In the past two weeks he has had 300,000 hits on his site.

HELLO KITTY GOES MAINLAND: Mainland Headwear obtained an exclusive license to market and sell Sanrio products in the mainland, including Hello Kitty. Mainland Headwear Holdings managing director Pauline Ngan Po-ling, said the main reason they are entering retailing is for diversification. “Our core business is and will remain hat making. In the long-term, we think it may not be as easy to maintain annual growth of our manufacturing and exporting business at the current high rate.” They are planning to open 20 to 30 Sanrio outlets this year and 250 to 300 in three years. Fifty to 80 of these stores will be owned and managed by Mainland, while others will be franchised. Mainland Headwear is working with US and Japanese partners to operate stores under the Lids and Sanrio brand names in China. They are also working on a project to develop their own hat brand for sale in China.

Everlast Worldwide Inc., the manufacturer, marketer and licensor of sporting goods and apparel under the Everlast brand name, announces a new licensing agreement for headwear to be made by LA based Rhinox. With the success of the Oscar-winning movie MillionDollar Baby and shows such as The Contender, they expect licensing activities to accelerate.

Robert Potochnik, CEO of Zerino International is working on a business- marketing plan and is having a hard time getting statistical information about the quantity of headwear sold in the USA. He wants those numbers to include caps and cotton and wool hats. Can someone help him? Call Potochnik at 888 -684 5334.