Walking down London’s prestigious St. James Street you can’t help but sense the permanence of the place.
I think it’s a sign of quality; permanence.
Things and places that remain unwaveringly resolute in their resistance to change often seem ancient, yet still at the forefront of what is considered “great”. Let us call it tradition. Just a stone’s throw away from Buckingham Palace, flanked by Pall Mall and Green Park, the area lies at the heart of London and is etched into the history of the city. The perfect setting, then, for Lock & Co Hatters – the oldest hatters in the world, at nearly 350 years old, and the subject of this article.
It’s a funny thing, tradition. Revered by most and guardedly carried down through generations, yet its myth can sometimes disconnect those regarding it from what made it a long-standing practicality in the first place. I set out to divine what place in our current era of flat caps, bucket hats and beanies such a stalwart exponent of traditional headwear had today, aside from being a testament to trends-gone-by.
It surprised me how small the shop looked from the exterior. I knew that this was one of the most famous hatters in the world and, as such, expected a building of boastful, colossal proportions. A preconception, shamefully, influenced by my experience of other ‘elite’ emporiums; perhaps a signature of these current times – grand, garish and without character. The only word that came to mind, before I passed the threshold with an age-old ding, was “quaint”.
Quaint was the establishment, but grand was the character. At first glance, the place was a time warp. A labyrinthine parlour glowing with warmth and hundreds of years of history, no love of the heritage was lost on the various proprietors and craftsmen busy at work. It was barely noon and the hustle and bustle of the place was already at fever pitch. Narrow corridors snaked around the shop, all lined with boxes of top hats, bowlers, smoking caps, panamas, fezzes, trilbies, fedoras, homburgs, pork pies, leather hats, fur hats, all those with a brim with a varying circumference – and this was just the first floor. Myriad contraptions and oddments were set about the place at every turn and seasoned milliners all plied their trade with utmost engrossment.
The establishment was pickled with characters of every sort. You had the senior milliners, who scurried along the tight corridors musing and muttering about measurements and styles. Then there were the designers, with their sketchbooks and pencils creating bespoke headpieces for the various patrons and their respective events. Lock & Co is, of course, the hatter of choice when it comes to Lady’s Day at Ascot and the waiting list apparently stretches into the months. And then the patrons themselves, some genuine punters, others bright-eyed enthusiasts, fawning over the fabulous things on display. They all breathed life into a place that was home to so many remnants of bygone days.
I found myself twirling through the nooks and crannies lapping up all the pockets of history – the first ever bowler hat (which James Lock himself created), Duke Wellington’s famous tricorn, head measurements of monarchs immemorial and the various royal warrants that adorned the walls. They are holders of the royal warrants for the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh and it’s easy to see why their list of patrons reads like a guest list to a fanciful party populated with centuries of the elite. Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Chaplin, Sir Anthony Eden, Admiral Lord Nelson – anyone who has etched their name into Britain’s history, all the way up to David Beckham. When it comes to hat making, Lock & Co is the nonpareil.
Legend has it that a postcard written to “The best hatters in the world, London” was once delivered to the firm with no need for an address.
As I had previously thought, Lock & Co was a museum of sorts – a testament to the very history of the hat. But my fears of it being that and that alone were allayed by one Anthony La Touche – a young and relatively unseasoned milliner, but a man whose insight and zeal I found to be unprecedented.
“I dream of a 50s London, where a hat was as vital a piece of clothing as any other garment,”
He avidly announced as he talked me through the various instruments and their uses. La Touche, or ‘The Hat About Town’ as he is otherwise known, was an apprentice, a visionary and a guru all rolled into one impeccably suave entity. And this rather extensive job description begot a remarkable passion for the hat. Without my prompting, he immediately touched upon my notion of the more traditional hats becoming outdated (or reserved for occasions of tradition) and it was then that he schooled me onto their new line, which he had a heavy hand in creating.
Lock & Roll is the new collection of hats by Lock & Co and it takes the bases of classic shapes and styles and marries it with contemporary trends to bring headpieces that may be considered an almost novel relic, back to their status as à la mode. “You see, men want variety, but are reluctant to stray away from the classic styles” he knowingly states. A bowler hat is almost considered fancy dress these days, simply because of its lack of adaptability through years of changing trends, but Lock & Roll seeks to finally modernise these relics, while, of course paying homage to their roots. All the groundwork is there but with little modern tweaks – a touch of colour here, or the widening of a brim there. To fully realise the subtle, yet instantly noticeable attention to detail that has gone into bringing the hat back to the modern man, you just have to explore the collection yourself. You can already see a re-emergence in the classic hat, wherever you look. A man doesn’t need an occasion to don a high quality trilby or wide-brimmed piece anymore and we can be as flamboyant as we damn well like.
While a tour group demanded La Touche’s attention and expertise, I was free to explore the other floor. The ground being dedicated to men’s hats and the first floor a more elegant display of lady’s couture headwear. These were far more exotic, as you can imagine and allowed for designers to stray from the classic shape of the trilby and its kin. A jungle of fur and lace and other such materials sat neatly upon the shelves.
After winding through the shop to full circle, I joined up with the large tour group which had rushed the scene, all of varying nationalities and ages, keen to finger through the many hats and learn about the rich heritage of the place. It made me realise that this marriage of classic and modern styles wasn’t at all contradictory. People are fascinated by tradition, by permanence; and if harnessed correctly, like La Touche and his fellow milliners have done, the classic hat can rise again. An establishment like Lock & Co that has been engrained so deeply in the heart of the city – both geographically and historically – is sure to have its finger on the pulse of its inhabitants.
Lock & Co is undeniably a testament to the past, but that only bolsters its claim to the future and with Lock & Roll revolutionising the way these timeless pieces are viewed and worn, that 50s London La Touche champions so doggedly seems all the more present.
