Crowning glory

Reimagining classics from the archive, Lock & Co’s autumn/winter 2024 collection exemplifies the timeless style for which the storied brand is renowned

Style 27 Jan 2025

model wearing Lock & Co's Fairbanks trilby hat

Lock & Co's Fairbanks trilby, £795, named after actor Douglas Fairbanks jr

In the mid-20th century, car ownership rates began to skyrocket, reducing the need for headwear as Britons could spend far less time facing the elements. Those gifted with a refined aesthetic taste may gasp in relief that the decline in wearing hats wasn’t, however, terminal.

Take the quintessentially British flat cap, the popularity of which has been bolstered by scores of new cultural associations, including stylish TV shows racking up hundreds of millions of viewing hours, among them Peaky Blinders, Lupin and Downton Abbey. Celebrities, too, have helped to keep the accessory in the limelight, with the dashing likes of David Beckham and Idris Elba often sporting their favourite iterations. No wonder, then, that people are reaching again for classics hats to serve as the cherries on top of their trendy garb.

Grosvenor multi coloured tweed flat cap, £225

Is all this more evidence that Lock & Co Hatters has been fated to remain the most enduring hat shop in the world? In a moment of apparent providence in 1940, a bomb fell but failed to explode on the company’s premises at 6 James’s Street. A recent creation to make the dandies of today thankful for that stroke of luck is the St James’s fedora in khaki. It’s made from beaver and mink fur felt, a luxurious combination in keeping with the exclusive neighbourhood it’s named after. The details it features include a fine ribbon-edge brim, a soft leather sweatband, and an internal lining in ruby red.

The piece is part of Lock & Co’s autumn/winter 2024 collection, which is brimming with reimagined archival classics, including fedoras, trilbies and even a smoking cap. All are masterclasses in the kind of excellent craftsmanship for which the brand has been honoured with a Royal Warrant of Appointment to his Majesty King Charles III.

Inventing the bowler hat represents one of the crowning achievements in Lock & Co’s rich heritage, a version in the collection exemplifying the level of craftsmanship we’re talking about. Today, the brand still uses the conformateur – a device pioneered by one Mr Allié-Maillard in the middle of the 19th century for taking precise head measurements – to ensure its hard hats fit perfectly.

Lock & Co is the oldest hat shop in the world & one of the oldest family-owned businesses still in existence.

But fedoras and caps dominate the collection. Their beautiful designs in muted tones evoke that air of urbanity which surrounds good-looking movie stars when they complete their outfits with utilitarian-looking headwear. The Zermatt, for instance, is an elevated baseball cap in a gorgeous deep blue, made for the colder months. While its brim helps to protect your eyes from the low winter sun, it features adjustable internal ear flaps like those found on trapper hats. The discerning eye can tell it’s made from wool with a soft handle.

The more voluminous newsboy cap, meanwhile, is made from 100 per cent British wool in a rich chocolate colourway. It’s a very dapper version of the traditional, eight-panelled style, conveying effortless vintage chic. One of the versatile standouts in the collection is the lightweight yet warm Grosvenor tweed cap, featuring a pattern of blue stripes which flash on its sumptuous nap. Redolent of negative photography, its striking aesthetic is suited to the cooler months in rural and urban settings alike.

Elsewhere, the collection serves as a time portal in which the hybridisation of casual and formal wear that is the fashion of today converges with the glamour of bygone eras. There are reinterpretations of Lock & Co’s signature styles paying homage to Golden Age of Hollywood legends like Douglas Fairbanks Junior, who moved in above the shop, as well as to storied venues like Madame JoJo’s and the St Moritz Club. They’re all made from the finest materials, and they all epitomise timeless style.

lockhatters.com