Text by Katie Shapiro
Images by Martina Albertazzi, Lindsey Childs, Olive & West Photography, and Stephanie Weinreis
Appearing in runway shows by Gucci, Thom Browne, and Chanel, to name a few, it’s clear that cowboy hats have come into vogue in recent years. Even in Aspen, where Western wear has long been a way of life, the utilitarian accessory has surpassed its function of protecting the wearer from the elements and taken on new life as a statement piece. Now a must-have both on the trail and about town, no trip to Aspen is complete without adding a custom piece to your collection. Ahead, meet three local hatters who are mad about the craft of millinery.
The Modern
Born in New York and raised between Southern France and Palm Beach with a model and designer for a father, Nick Fouquet has style in his blood—and a lifelong connection to Aspen. The hatmaker, whose clients include celebrities like Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, and LeBron James, made annual family trips to Aspen for vacation growing up, and he even moved there for a year in 2008, ultimately choosing Aspen to open his second store location in 2020.
With an evolving lineup of seasonal ready-to-wear collections lining the wall, Nick Fouquet Aspen is the first outpost of the hatmaker’s buzzy headquarters in Venice Beach, California, where his eponymous studio was born out of a garage on Abbot Kinney in 2013. The brand has been equally embraced in Aspen, a place Fouquet describes as “so fucking cool.” “Aspen really understands the roots of Western fashion and culture intrinsically,” he says.
At his minimalistic boutique on Hyman Avenue, clients can shop one of Fouquet’s coveted hats or design a bespoke creation in store. (Be warned, though, the turnaround time for a custom Nick Fouquet is four months or more.) “I don’t really care for trends, to be honest,” Fouquet says. “They come in cycles. There’s more of a Western influence today, but that’ll go away. Hats are ubiquitous—a part of our American culture—and will stay a staple for men’s and women’s wardrobes forever.”
The Western
At Aspen’s longest-running high-end Western wear emporium, shopping for a cowboy hat is an all-out party. And when Wendy Kunkle grabbed the reins from Kemo Sabe founders and longtime Aspen locals Nancy and Tom Yoder three years ago, it marked a new era for the brand, one with an even greater emphasis on heritage, craftsmanship, and style. “Distressing, branding, and swagging hats were all crazy ideas that came directly from our store early on, and top-notch customer service has been the Kemo Sabe mantra for over 35 years,” says Kunkle, who also oversees store locations in Vail, Jackson Hole, Park City, and Las Vegas. “But when I took the company on, I decided to showcase more of who we are as a company and lean hard into fashion.”
With a line out the door on most days during the summer, it’s well worth the wait for entry into this treasure trove of not just classic cowboy hats but also vintage Native American jewelry, belts, buckles, boots, and bags. First, belly up to the saloon-style bar upstairs for a ranch water or margarita, then take your pick of one of the beaver-and-rabbit-fur-blended felt hats hanging on the store’s famed hat wall. A “Wrangler” will guide you through the customization process, which includes visiting the in-store branding station and incorporating a rainbow of ribbons, rare feathers, horse hair bands, bejeweled pins, and more. “Customizing almost everything in our store is something most companies cannot do,” Kunkle says. “We thrive on getting our clients exactly what they dream of to match their personalities.”
Kemo Sabe’s lively customer experience has helped the brand achieve cult status in the decades since it launched in a humble 400-square-foot space in Snowmass Village in 1990—that, and its high-profile clientele. Appearing on Donald Glover for GQ in 2023, gracing the Ralph Lauren runway in 2022, making many a repeat cameo on Bravo’s The Real Housewives, and accompanying Jeff Bezos on his history-making suborbital flight in 2021 doesn’t hurt, either.
Kemo Sabe’s lively customer experience has helped the brand achieve cult status in the decades since it launched in a humble 400-square-foot space in Snowmass Village in 1990—that, and its high-profile clientele. Appearing on Donald Glover for GQ in 2023, gracing the Ralph Lauren runway in 2022, making many a repeat cameo on Bravo’s The Real Housewives, and accompanying Jeff Bezos on his history-making suborbital flight in 2021 doesn’t hurt, either.
The Classic
Before Susan Carrolan landed in Aspen 23 years ago, she worked in New York as a theatrical milliner making headwear for Broadway shows. “I was ready for a change from city life and wanted to ski,” Carrolan says. “I started selling hats to Hildegard’s—a high-end women’s boutique across from the Wheeler [Opera House] back then. They sold my hats for years, and then I ended up in the Aspen Saturday Market in 2007.”
Today, Susan Carrolan still sets up shop at the market every summer, selling her line of signature straw Panama and felt hats that she finishes with details like Japanese ribbons, beaded bands from the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, and—new for summer 2023—one-of-a-kind vintage jewelry pieces with a Western flare, offering extensive sizing options and a generous brim for sun protection.
Her hattery just outside of town in the Aspen Airport Business Center now employs a staff of 10 and is open for drop-ins during store hours or by appointment, when you can shop the latest collection or work with the team on a custom order that’ll be ready in under two weeks. “At the end of each season, I travel to source new materials for the hat-making process,” Carrolan says. “From straws from South America to trims from Europe, that’s my source of inspiration.”
