What the FW25 hats tell us about contemporary fashion

As a memorable scene from the documentary Cristobal Balenciaga (2024) reminds us, where the couturier puts a vase on a model’s head and magically the silhouette transforms, the hat in all its forms remains an extremely representative element of the identity of the wearer—a powerful communication tool as well as an accessory. From the evergreen baseball hats with ironic phrases to the latest releases during the FW25 fashion weeks, hats remain a fundamental trick capable of changing stories and directions. Even in literature, various poets talk about and reference hats to suggest a deep connection between clothing and the surrounding world, like Walt Whitman in Song of Myself: «I wear my hat as I please, and I wear my coat as I please. I am not afraid to express who I am, who I will become.»

Paolo Carzana, a Welsh designer, presented the collection Dragons Unwinged at the Butchers Block in London for FW25, centered on craftsmanship and natural dyes through an intimate yet powerful presentation. Alongside Nasir Mazhar, a true expert in hats, he created a vast series with incredibly refined shapes that seem to speak both of the hours of work poured into each piece and a strong desire to live in distant worlds where humans once again meet the harmonious fits of nature. Mazhar, beyond being an important designer and collaborator with many contemporary names, is truly a hat prodigy. Just think that his headpieces are also loved by Lady Gaga—remember the iconic helmet created by the designer for the video Alejandro.

At the court of Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, collaborations with incredible masters—better yet, Jedi, to quote the show credits—continue. During the show Smaller is Stronger, which was a hymn to independence from big markets and grand narratives, we discovered the collaboration with Nobuki Hizume of Hizume, for whom art is understood as craftsmanship and fashion as pure poetry. Each hat in the new collection is a journey, an intense work celebrating freedom. Wide brims were used as blank canvases to draw freely, while on the head, in true Comme spirit, tradition was honored through the use of felt. A work of pure harmonious deconstructionism that challenges space and carries an infinite energy capable of filling an entire room.

Also in Paris, the FW25 collection by Paula Canovas Del Vas, a Central Saint Martins graduate from London, definitely caught everyone's attention. While we’ve come to associate her name with U-toe shoes, this time the designer focused on hats, earflap beanies with flower-shaped appliqués that we’ll definitely be seeing around very soon. But there’s news also for those who love the timeless classics like the baseball hat: IDEA Books, a cult London bookstore founded by David Owen and Angela Hill, launched a new series of their cotton six-panels with iconic phrases. The new statement hats mix irony and reflection on dynamics in the creative scene with phrases like Garden Centre, Yoga Helps, Priority Boarding, and Yacht Rock, and we already know they’ll be seen all over the world this summer, at every opening and vernissage of the season. In short, the hat has become an essential accessory, capable of adapting to every style and price range. Above all, it’s a detail that makes the difference for those who know how to wear it effortlessly—especially now that, hopefully, the sun will come back to shine.