a stetson cowboy hat is stretched shrunk
and submerged in water before it fully
takes form
those are only a few stages in the
two-day process that can make these hats
so
you won't find the popular skyline style
for less than 245 dollars on stetson's
website
that's little compared to this one which
will sell you back five thousand dollars
but it's not just how these hats are
made
stetson is one of the few hat brands
that have reached icon status
so what made stetson so iconic
and is that why these hats are so
expensive
producing a stetson cowboy hat is a
complicated and costly process
the production begins here in garland
texas where workers turn fur into felt
stetson says it's one of the few cowboy
hat makers in the u.s that makes hat
bodies from scratch
this means it buys its own raw fur pelts
and processes them into felt compared to
some other companies that buy pre-made
hat bodies with the fur already blended
fur is the biggest indicator of quality
and therefore has the biggest impact on
price
in the fur room stetson stores fur from
portugal new jersey belgium and ukraine
okay this summer natural beaver
of course this is the finer the finer
beaver hatcher made out of natural
beaver
very tight fur
very durable fur
good for all the weather rain
nice feel
this kind of fur isn't cheap
just one pound of beaver fur can cost
125 dollars
and chinchilla fur can cost four times
the price
now consider that stetson only produces
about two hats per pound of fur
after the different furs are mixed
together the blend goes through a blower
which separates long hair from down
sets and uses down fur because it
produces a stronger felt
the machines in the factory are crucial
but the job couldn't be done without
trained workers
the company employs more than 200
workers at two factories to guide the
hats through each stage another element
that ultimately impacts the price
about a hundred sets of hands touch
every single one of our hats as of right
now
workers pass the felt through several
stages of shrinking until the proper hat
size is reached
later during the tipping stage a worker
helps create the crown by stretching and
pulling the hat
then as an employee turns the felt brass
fingers of another machine push the
bottom out to form the brim
one of the last stages of producing the
hat body happens here at the forming
machine where the hat is submerged in
hot water
an employee pushes down the former and
out comes the final half body
at the finishing factory machines taper
and shape the crown of the hat but the
next few stages require special
attention
even as a machine sands the hat an
employee again must be there to guide
and feel it
the worker will decide when it has
reached the proper thickness
at other stations craftspeople use
scissors and pliers to secure the buckle
accent
others cut and sew on the leather strap
by hand then the inner satin lining
no hat makes it out of the factory
without a final quality
inspection all hats go through roughly
the same process but premium ones have a
few more features that impact the final
cost
at five thousand five dollars the
diamante premier hat is one of the most
expensive cowboy hats you can buy
it's made with two high quality furs
chinchilla and beaver
there's also the addition of the 14
carat gold buckle set which can add one
thousand dollars to the cost of a hat
quality is only one reason stetson has
the confidence to make a hat like this
and be sure customers will buy it to
understand the other piece of the puzzle
you have to go back to stetson's
beginning more than 150 years ago
the founder john batterson stetson is
often credited with inventing the modern
day cowboy hat and setting the precedent
for what the style should be
there are many replicas of the burberry
trench coat but they were the original
and they sort of set the industry
standard for that specific product and i
think stetson has also done the very
similar thing where they have set a
precedent with uh you know the
celebrities the politicians uh wearing
the hat and giving it that added value
of yes this is a luxury piece in the
late 1800s sharpshooter annie oakley
became one of the first famous figures
to don the hat
in fact in 2012 a stetson hat worn by
oakley sold at auction for just over 17
thousand dollars
while stetson saw a dip in popularity in
the 60s demand picked back up in the
early 80s reignited by the release of
the indiana jones movies
the hat reached the heads of other
famous figures like president ronald
reagan around this time too
but by the 21st century the kind of
famous face wearing a stetson had
changed
[Music]
dua lipa's 2021 video for love again
opens on a shot of a floating stetson
then a shot of the singer looking
stylish and seductive while wearing the
hat
and here are two more notable examples
that show how stetson has linked itself
with high status
there's gigi hadid holding a stetson hat
in this vogue shoe in 2018 and three
years later beyonce wearing stetson on
the cover of harper's bazaar in
september 2021
both prove again how the brand has
evolved to something worthy of being
worn by the world's biggest names
if you idolize those
musicians you're going to want to wear
the brands that they wear
[Music]
you