The birth of Pipolaki’s hats collection

To be inspired, to imagine, to invent… the starting point of a hats collection is our inspiration. Ideas come from our travels, our encounters, our history, our everyday life. Some inspirations also come from small, insignificant details: the print of a scarf, the lapel of a jumper, the knitting of a woollen fabric that makes us want to offer them in a beanie version.

To structure our approach and offer innovative hats, we work in collaboration with our stylists, taking into account the latest trends in terms of style, colours, materials and prints. These elements help us to evolve our inspirations and to turn our ideas into reality.

The other key element to take into account is your desires, your expectations and also your comments and feedback on our previous collections. This is the time to analyse our sales, to take stock of what you liked or disliked. Throughout this creative period, we collect, pinpoint and organise our ideas on a moodboard. This tool will synthesize the theme, the atmosphere, the universe of our next collection.

At this stage, the collection starts to take shape in our minds. From the moodboard and the defined atmosphere, we will choose the materials and the colour ranges. We favour natural materials such as wool, cashmere and alpaca, which are known for their insulating, warm and very resistant properties. We choose the material from the largest spinners in France and Italy according to several criteria: its quality, the thickness of the yarn, its feel and its range of colours. Since 2021, an additional criterion has been a determining factor: its environmental impact. Indeed, in order to reduce the production of wool and to be part of a sustainable development approach, we have decided to create the new pieces of our collection only from recycled materials.

Once the moodboard, materials and colour ranges have been defined, the first models are designed. Depending on their technical constraints, we go in search of specific know-how, particularly in terms of knitting and weaving. We turn to new suppliers to whom we submit our project and evaluate its feasibility. This is an important moment of exchange and sharing of experiences that will help our ideas evolve and make the collection a reality.

All this information is gathered in a document called the fashion mapping: it summarises the models, materials, colours and suppliers. It is a reference point for everyone during the construction of the collection.

This third stage is the birth of the first pieces of our collection. A technical sheet is drawn up for each of our models; it contains several pieces of information such as the name of the model, its composition, its colours, its dimensions, its marking, etc. These elements are essential for the suppliers to start producing the first prototypes. The prototyping stage will bring the model to life; it is essential before going into production. Each sample is methodically studied: fitting, measurement, rendering, touch, finishing... We validate several elements: Does it correspond to our request? Is it comfortable? Is it resistant and durable? Does it meet the brand's requirements in terms of style, quality and know-how? Etc...

Once all these points have been answered, we can validate all the prototypes. This may take several weeks, as some parts will require more modifications and therefore the production of new samples. Once all the samples have been validated, the hats will be ready to be produced in our different factories. On average it takes 6 months from inspiration to production. It will take a few more months before the collection is available on our online shop or in our partner shops. All of our collections are designed more than a year in advance; we are already working on the autumn-winter 2023-2024 collection. We look forward to showing you our creations and to seeing you wear them; it is our greatest reward and the accomplishment of a team effort.

In the meantime, visit our online shop to discover our collections of accessories and hats for women, men and kids.

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