Hats are having a moment on the runway, with designers sending models down catwalks in pillboxes, boaters, bicornes and buckets alongside more experimental styles.
This season's shows featured hats prominently. At Loro Piana, nearly every model wore one. Thom Browne showed straw boaters wrapped in coloured mesh. Chloé paired see-through hats with matching trenchcoats and sent models in white sailor hats with all-white outfits. Courrège offered space-age designs, Burberry showed oversized buckets, and Bottega Veneta featured characterful styles.
The trend echoes Jackie Kennedy's approach to fashion. Before moving into the White House in the early 1960s, Kennedy placed what she called "an order for a million hats" with department store Bergdorf Goodman. That appetite for distinctive millinery appears to have returned to fashion in 2024 and 2025.
The pieces moving from high-end runways to high street retailers signal that hats beyond the standard baseball cap are experiencing what the Guardian calls a "very characterful resurgence." The styles prioritise personality and visual impact, treating hats as statement pieces rather than purely functional accessories.