I'm so happy to welcome my friend Andy Stone. Beside being a major MJ supporter, Andy has a natural gift for storytelling. Born in America, and now based in France since the last 17 years, Andy was a nomad travelling the world and collecting vintage and denim for 40 years. Once apprenticed as a cowboy hat maker, he has been a "hat guy" ever since, so it felt natural to invite him to interview Nick Fouquet.
If you watched the Grammys, you might have noticed Pharrell and Madonna, both wearing elegant hats (not Pharrell's enormously big one by Vivienne Westwood). The man behind those hats is the talented Nick Fouquet. He's at the cutting edge, by not adhering to old hat forms, creases, or any old school "rules" about how a hat should be made. By his "playing with fire" in scorching the hats, using paint, and found objects, it all adds to the final unique result. To him, each hat is an art piece.
Nick is a TCK or Third Culture Kid, grew up in France and then the US, and this probably accounts for part of the impetus for his gypsy and nomadic travels around the world, which he feels are the roots of his design ethic and how he eventually arrived in California and later opened his custom hat atelier in Venice, CA. He had been a model for Ralph Lauren, but modeling was not his thing. So I asked him about how his evolution into hats happened.
I've always enjoyed fashion, but found it was more about the art of making things. I had learned to sew and construct garments at Mister Freedom, the famous denim store in Los Angeles, and enjoyed the process of creating. When by chance I met a cowboy hat maker who told me that there were only 25 cowboy hat makers left in the United States, this piqued my interest. So hats found me. I never had, nor wanted formal training, as I felt this would restrict my vision.
Was it the cowboy hat style that intrigued you?
Maybe a bit in the beginning when I first was working with the hats, but then I realized that hats just happen, at least for me. All my travels, the places I have been, the photographs I've taken and the people I have met all seem to be a part of who I am and this translates into what I do, and gives me my own approach to making a hat.
Do you have a specific approach in making a hat for someone?
No, not really, I call them lucky mistakes, because I am not a trained hat maker, but rather I enjoy the complete amount of freedom that I've had, and am having in making the hats. This allows me more creativity. There are no rules for me. A lot of my inspiration comes from my travels, the outdoors, nature, experiences, and people. When I make a custom hat for someone, we do have a conversation about their hat and I urge them to draw on their past, their keepsakes and trinkets, thus giving me some input for creating together a hat that has meaning to them, and that hat can later be passed on to someone close to them. The sum total is my creation and their input.
How do you see your future in hat making?
I'm not exactly sure. I like the size of my company and my business, and most importantly want to keep my quality high, and at the moment there is a 2 month wait when ordering the hat. I've been approached by some big companies, but I like my shop and team. I want to feel sure of what my next step will be. So time will tell. In the meantime, I've found a space across the street, where I'm opening a concept store in June, that will have work by other artists, including ceramics, art, fiber, cashmere, found items, and more.
Here are some of my picks of hats he has done, but as Nick Fouquet says, each hat is custom made, and thus will have meaning to you.
– Andy Stone
Photo credits: Portrait: Michael Dumler. Burning hat: Jessie Webster. Hat collection: NickFouquet.com.
Nick Fouquet Hat Maker, 1629 Abbot Kinney, Venice, CA 90219