Hormazd Narielwalla's Hat Parade

Hormazd Narielwalla's Hat Parade

There have been many golden eras where a man would consider an outfit incomplete, consider himself naked even, without a hat but now they are rarely even considered in the construction of the everyday outfit. As EJ mentioned in her campaign for hats, 'just look at the street scenes in almost any film made the 50s or earlier to see how commonly the hat used to be worn and how much better it makes almost everyone look.' However, the modern decline of hat wearing amongst men is obvious. I have to confess that despite admiring many hats from afar, I'm yet to fully commit to donning one. There is however, a great deal of inspirational hat donning out there. None more so than the creations of Bernstock Speirs. Inspired by the underground club and music scene, the design duo began creating men’s and women’s headwear which challenged the traditional ideas of millinery. A new generation of hat wearers has since been seduced by their innovative creations. An upcoming exhibition at their Brick Lane store will showcase the work of Style Salvage favourite, Hormazd Narielwalla.

Narielwalla’s fascination with pattern blocks has taken him on a trip up north of the body and drawn inspiration from shapes created for the head. The work features military figures composed of collage, photography and illustration sporting the designers AW10 hat collection. Using hat pattern blocks from Bernstock Speirs’ archive along with uniform drafts extracted from military cutting books and the all important masculine ingredient – facial hair. In his evocative work Narielwalla illustrates a new take on patterns, as they have never been seen. Bernstock Speirs have created a capsule range of hats to accompany the exhibition which will run from 15th of October until the 15th of November. The time for a new era of hat wearing is now my friends.