About

 What is Ugo Kennedy?

Ugo Kennedy is a bespoke brand inspired by old traditions in a modern age. Our mission is to provide exceptional craftsmanship, original designs and one of a kind wearable hats using the finest quality materials. For those who seek out handcrafted and customised pieces of work, we create unique pieces with soul and character for people that are as unique as the hats themselves.

Why Handcrafted Hats?

Ugo is most definitely a hat lover and collector. He started out customising and creating his own hat designs after collecting them for several years. Moving to Australia from London, Ugo realised that there is a culture in Australia that really understands and appreciates headwear due to the weather and lifestyle. That was his starting point, he noticed that it was more than a fashionable item, a utility if you will and the fact that hats are utilitarian and more than a fashion statement his new passion lead him to wanting to create his own collection with a unique twist to captivate the human spirit.

How Are The Hats Made?

Making hats slowly and sustainably we aim to pay homage to the hat makers that came before us. Inspired by both hat making traditions from around the world and styles from the past and present. Our aim is to retain, incorporate and reintroduce ideas from bygone ages whilst maintaining a modern look.

The very first step is obtaining your head size circumference, this hat is made for you and no one else in the world. Then using fire, steam and primitive tools, each and every hat made by Ugo is custom made from start to finish using methods that date back hundreds of years. Our hats are never made on assembly lines and we do not believe in churning out thousands of replica hats per day. Ugo’s hats are different they have soul, they have your personal intentions and ideas put into it each hat that is tailor made for you. Every hat is traditionally created and meticulously crafted, hand sculpted and created with the wearer in mind. All hats are made locally in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Every step of the process is handled by the same 2 hands. We select the finest Fur Felt, Straw from Ecuador or Italy then skilfully and carefully steam the material, block the material, then sand it down to perfection. After that we slowly hand shape, treat the material with special care, hand-sew details, sew in a leather sweatband and carefully insert a silk lining then add features, cutting, trimming and tweaking until we have a finished wearable hat. Each hat can take up to 3-5 days to make due to the care and attention to detail.

Why?

Inspired by all the places he has lived and visited from London, Nashville Tennessee, New York, Berlin, Jamaica, Japan, Copenhagen, Milan, Montréal, Bali & New Zealand to name a few. It has taught him to be open minded to the world and culturally influenced. Ugo puts his heart and soul into each piece and we believe it shows. We use the best fabrics available and support Recycling, Up-Cycling and less waste. Every hat is made to order and you’re getting something uniquely tailored for you and there is something very special and personal about that process which he loves. He believes it is important to live in the service of others so you feel good at the end of the day.