Picture by Alex Martinez
James Keith needed to put on a fedora along with his New 12 months’s Eve 2015 outfit, however he could not discover one which match the invoice. As an alternative of shaking off that frustration, he started sketching on paper, including a placing purple underneath the brim for a punch of shade. It took a number of makes an attempt to search out the proper producer (an organization in enterprise for 180 years), however after a yr of envisioning his design, he lastly obtained the hat he needed on his head.
He instantly put it on, and the reception was overwhelming, which obtained Keith considering. “I’ve by no means had everybody praise me like that earlier than, and I assumed, Wow, I feel I have to construct a model for this” he says. On the again of that fateful night time – and the hat – he based his model, Keith James.
Though his identify is now synonymous with model, Keith grew up removed from the highlight, in Rigelwood, a small city in North Carolina with a inhabitants of round 700. It isn’t the launch pad one would count on from a profitable trend model, however Keith was fascinated by model from an early age.
Picture by Christopher Andreu
Each his father and grandfather grew up within the James-Church and emphasised the significance of seeing your Sunday greatest. “We all the time dressed as much as go to church, and that meant carrying a hat,” Keith says. (Additionally, “I am bald now too—I’ve to cowl that up,” he quips.) The model identify is a tribute to his household, because it places his final identify and all of its historical past first.
Even after Keith earned a bachelor’s diploma in psychology and an MBA, entrepreneurship was all the time on the forefront of his thoughts. He offered clothes, together with hats, out of the again of his automobile in school and labored a variety of jobs, from a tax preparation workplace to the lads’s flooring on Atlanta’s Saks Fifth Avenue. His lack of expertise as a designer didn’t cease him from creating his fedora.
Keith makes it appear really easy, and certainly, the model has had a comparatively simple path. Celebs have organically found her on Instagram, the place she’s been posting her model pictures for a while now. (Keith has greater than 100,000 followers and often posts extremely styled images of himself in new kinds and dapper outfits alongside celebrities carrying his hats.) “Individuals took to it shortly,” he says. “I feel folks take what they like and it was a simple promote for me as a result of the product is so good. I did not should do a lot. Celebrities attain out to me.” Her shoppers now embrace A-listers like Beyoncé, LeBron James, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, who owns a queen fedora in golden honey and jet black.
Picture by Latrelle Yancey
One other high-profile buyer is none aside from accent designer Christian Louboutin, whose iconic shade of purple is comparable however not actual to Keith’s. Louboutin and Keith met at an Artwork Basel occasion on the Christian Louboutin boutique within the Miami Design District. “I had the hat on, and he was stunned to see it,” says Keith. “He stated he preferred it and wanted one for himself. Subsequent factor I do know, he is doing a photograph shoot carrying my hat.”
His signature purple underbrim did not come accidentally. Colours have significance for Keith. “It represents unity and love. I name Kana the circle of affection.” This model carries over to the Fall 2024 line. The gathering consists of staples just like the King, a traditional fedora with a two-and-a-half-inch curled brim obtainable in additional than 20 colours, together with sizzling pink, tiger orange, and stylish canary yellow, and the Queen, a fedora with a large, flat purple brim and With a teardrop crown, it’s obtainable in quite a lot of colours.
New kinds embrace the Western, as seen on Beyoncé, with five-inch curved purple spikes and the Bucket, a light-weight nylon model. On the request of his discerning clients, Keith has branched out past the traditional hat form to incorporate beanies, fragrances, sun shades, belts, silk scarves and leather-based items resembling top-handle baggage, backpacks, duffels, totes and wallets. “Equipment are key items of an outfit,” she stated. “All of us [other] Equipment go hand in hand to enhance the hat.”
Picture by Leonardo Calistri
Picture by Leonardo Calistri
Keith moved to Atlanta from North Carolina after a relationship that did not work out, however he in the end selected to remain right here and construct his enterprise. He now divides his time between Los Angeles, for its trade and alternatives, and Atlanta, the place he spends a few week every month, partly to go to his household. His adopted metropolis will perpetually be an attraction for his sense of neighborhood and help. “Atlanta has a whole lot of entrepreneurs and that helps encourage me to create,” says Keith. “After I first got here, I noticed individuals who regarded like me who have been profitable, and that gave me extra confidence.”
He additionally likes the accessibility the town presents. “I do not suppose I might have began Keith James wherever else however right here,” he says. “It is all about mixing and mixing. There’s something occurring day-after-day, and other people know learn how to take pleasure in themselves. There’s visibility, and other people like to decorate up right here.”
This text appeared in our January 2025 challenge.
commercial
