Description
In 2022, Richard Faison – Brooklyn-born and -raised artist – ventured out on his own to start Oliver Lewis Hats. The milliner creates unique, bespoke pieces that go as well with a T-shirt as with a suit, challenging the notion that hats are often still associated with selective or festive occasions. Each Oliver Lewis Hat is hand-crafted and one-of-a-kind, always classic yet with a contemporary twist and the utmost attention to detail. Crafted over a day-long process in Brooklyn, each hat gives you long-lasting confidence beyond the City.
More about the founder, artist and milliner:
Out of all hats, Richard Faison mastered the hat-making craftsmanship in creating ‘Shtreimels’, the elegant fur hats worn by Jewish men for Shabbat, weddings, and other holidays. After working as the only black Shtreimel maker for more than three years, Richard decided to start making hats that can be worn by a broader audience (and himself) and that allow him to tap into his creative potential truly.
The brand is named after Oliver Lewis, a Black jockey and the very first Kentucky Derby winner, lost in history. An early seed which was planted by his Trinidadian father, who loved Westerns and told his son about Mexican and Black cowboys and inspired him to start wearing hats at the early age of 12.