The woolly hat era was started in the late 19th century by the gentlefolk of Chilham in the English county of Kent. The craft was exported to the Americas by émigrés suffering from alopecia. It is said that one William Hemhauser, a designer of particular note, gave early examples of the hat to his friends and acquaintances with the words “On your own head be it”.
The craft reached a defining moment in the late stages of the 20th century when the movement came under the influence of one of William's desendants Jeanne Ricci, and her School of Knitwear.

Designed and crafted in San Francisco

Wool & Love.

Text ©CB (not V&A)