Paul’s Hat Collection

Of all the places Paul has acquired the keepsakes in his office, this jaunty porter’s hat has perhaps the most dubious origins. “I found it in the street, actually,” he says. “I imagine it came from the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. But I don't know. I literally found it in the street in Knightsbridge on the floor, along with some other stuff somebody cleared out and left all the rubbish on the floor. And I thought, well, I'll have that because it's fabulous.”

Paul has always said that he gets some of his greatest joys out of the gifts people send him from all over the world – even more so when they have taken the time to handmake something. This cap, which bears more than a passing resemblance to a Paul Smith cycling cap, is actually made entirely from a Paul Smith packaging box and was posted to Paul by a Japanese fan.

Proof that if you ask nicely enough, you’ll likely get what you want, this well-loved sailor’s cap was picked up by Paul on one of his summer holidays to picturesque Sardinia. He got chatting to a fisherman while taking a stroll and complimented him on his hat. As Paul tells it, the story goes a little like this: “I said, ‘oh, I like your hat. And he says, ‘oh, you can have it.’” It now occupies a permanent position in Paul’s collection.

Even if you’re not a regular visitor to San Francisco, you still might be familiar with the Haight-Ashbury area in the city. Named for the intersection between Haight and Ashbury streets, the neighbourhood has played a hugely important role throughout the city’s history – but particularly during the countercultural movements of the 1960s where it served as a haven for art, music, and meeting places. That hippie spirit lives on, and it’s where Paul picked up this floppy hat made from a patchwork of – what else? – stripes.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a standard piece of military kit – a navy officer’s hat perhaps? But it actually hails from a more unexpected place: jazz funerals (or, to use the preferred term ‘funeral with music’) in New Orleans, Louisiana – a custom blending European and African traditions where a funeral procession is accompanied by a brass band. Gifted to Paul by a clarinettist friend who lived in the city, this black and white cap once belonged to a grandmaster of the ceremony, who led the procession.