Why This Hatmaker Sets Fire to His $950 Felt Masterpieces

[@RenegadeTimes]

Nothing is more satisfying than an artist satisfied and fulfilled with his art. Beautiful.

[@AbdullahQ1993]

To all the people calling this overrated and overpriced: there are many people, like myself, who choose to own a few handcrafted, high quality pieces over many mass-produced cheap products that deteriorate fast and don’t quite fit perfectly. So if you’re a craftsperson who has a passion for making anything, please do, because I, and many others, will find value in your work.

[@johncenarockz]

Abdullah I completely agree

[@matthoward5886]

Being someone who makes hats I can agree with you..but when you are doing a show piece on a video you should make sure the ribbon covers the sweatband stitching. You also make the sweatband fit the customers head..not just wrap it around inside a blocked hat. This was laughable at best

[@adamnagy1832]

Paying the extra bucks for better quality, custom fit and handcrafted is justifiable. In this case you're paying extra because it's art.

[@beccareul]

It just makes you sound pretentious because frankly there’s no reason on gods green earth why a hat should cost $1000 ever, well unless perhaps you’re having one made for a royal wedding or going to the Kentucky derby.

[@Murtagh653]

akubra and other large scale manufacturers such as stetson have the same or better quality and theres the added bonus that they cost a fraction of the price, you could just buy one from a company and customise it yourself for 5 bucks or less. this guy is lucky that people are dumb and lazy enough to think setting an average hat on fire and sticking a match on it somehow makes it worth more.

[@GlenCocopuffs]

“Hats are the pinnacle of elegance” - guy wearing a wifebeater

[@HoustonWadeCompton]

Is he about to wear a three piece suit in a workshop or??? 😂

[@blahblah60]

Theyre comfy no denying that

[@LamVanDam]

@@HoustonWadeCompton Hannibal Lector wears a three piece suit under his murder suit.

[@elcatrinc1996]

what the fuck is a wifebeater ¿?

[@gustavogonzalez5815]

I’ll excuse myself thank you very much though “wife beater?” It’s called professionally as an athletic, sleeveless, A-shirt, tee, or tank underwear. How non-knowledgeable.

[@gristlevonraben]

They had to age the hat and jacket of Harrison Ford for the Indiana Jones movies. Ford found and helped to create his hat, but forgot to age it. Once on set, he was told it needed to look used, so he crushed it into the white sands under his feet, and then rolled it up a few times, dusted off, reshaped it and was ready to go. The sweat stains came quickly due to the actual weather being warm and standing out in the sun. Though they used three different hats for the movie series, the first movie used the same hat, all stuntmen had hats made into the style Ford helped to create, people who ordered replica hats were very upset that their hats were so much darker than the one in the movie scenes. The actual fix is to literally crush the hat into fine white sand, not cornstarch, sugar or flour, which can rot your hat and destroy it, but instead to take it to a nice white, dry beach, and roll it in the sand, then rub it out and gently put it on, and wear it. Indy's original hat was a darkish brown, turned tan by having fun with it.

[@albusdumbledore2279]

Gristle Von Raben I

[@Shottyshotgun1]

Jake Alamo what the fuck is wrong with you mate

[@Shottyshotgun1]

Jake Alamo with the current state of the world, its always best to be naive. im not sure who the director was but im also not sure what the director has to do with ford

[@leonardusdesignleonardusde3479]

Gristle Von Raben m

[@Panda74gofaster]

Gristle Von Raben it would be kooler if HF told this story... rather from a third party snitch...

[@michaelc.gilbert6770]

I was going to buy one of these, but Fouquet.

[@brianda5793]

Michael C. Gilbert 😂

[@Solo-yi3bm]

😂😂

[@bobdylanreimagined6150]

Took me a minute 😄

[@carloscarias6276]

😂

[@phillykiki7320]

Try Thunder Voice Eagle. He has better quality hats

[@garyrifat2917]

lot of Haters out there, his hats are cool if you cant afford one and I cant, please admire the work,effort,craftsmanship and quality without the negative comments. I don't know of another hat maker in LA that can make you a bespoke custom hat. My mother taught me if you don't have anything nice to say about something perhaps you should not say anything never has this been more true in the age of the internet. Im thankful craftsman like this guy are still making things that you can treasure for a life time it costs more but it is worth it. Way to go Nick ignore the haters and hopefully when I can afford one of your hats you will still be making them.

[@JeremyTalksWitU]

His hats are thousands of dollars. I just realize that i had no clue what hats cost

[@Luftbubblan]

Very uncommon with hats where i live atm. An old friends grandpa made a fortune selling hats back in the days :D

[@ChapuleTaylor]

You see, hats in TF2 actually aren't that expensive

[@keshlalish5586]

like anything custom handmade. from tuxedo to the hat but you do get a lot more for the price imho

[@barberman1087]

If you buy a hat for that price, ether you are insane or you got to much money.

[@gytisdramblewolfskis8521]

if you search in like a supermarket or smth you can probably get really cheap. The ones I find in hat specific, quality shops are minimum like 80.(EU)

[@sudonim7552]

"Yeah can I get my hat uhhhhh medium rare please"

[@helsinki]

This is so hipster, I grew a twirly mustache watching this.

[@natedill9180]

Why is this hipster? Why can’t a white person live and work like he is doing?

[@elcatrinc1996]

i know, i low how hipster it is

[@SophieW-z9r]

Me too and I'm a woman ;)

[@miike111]

That was a beautiful video about a guy that make hats and with his own style!!! Great work to Zack and Brian, I wish BloomBerg would show more videos like this!!!!!!

[@ashleyspiano]

The beauty of patina is that it's earned through time. Intentionally distressed art annoys me because it's a statement of impatience. It feels so fake.

[@dobypilgrim6160]

I hate fake "distressed" anything. You are right. Patina cannot be faked. Truth can't be faked either. These seem like very nice hats. Distressing them - well...

[@strongyang]

That's hippie for ya!

[@brandonkey181]

Its no, its a style. The compromise of materials, time, and or effort is simply a benefit, and not the purpose.

[@TheRoadOfLoading]

actually, distressing with fire to achieve a patina is quite common in shoes, called burnishing. I think a little bit of burnishing on the edge of that hat looks awesome, but a bit too much on the crown

[@shadowblack1987]

Absolutely clueless comment. lol

[@rosemarybloom9851]

What an inspiring Craftsman! It takes a lot of courage to strike out on your own and start a business like this. I personally love the look of his hats and I like knowing the products he uses are sustainable.

[@alltraveler]

My 8 year old grandson loves. Real. Hats. He saves his money and buys at the hat shop in Disney springs. He bought a black felt top hat that he wears all the time. He wears an Irish style cap with his family emblem on it. He definitely owns hat wearing. I can’t wait for him to grow into my dads Stetson . Beautiful.

[@jimking4141]

I happen to appreciate the craftmanship Nick Fouquet puts into each of his hats. It's quite remarkable actually. Good on you.

[@BonkMachine]

4:25 Imagine walking around like that

[@jacquinorcross-edwards1861]

I have a collection of hats from ladies leather to wool, casual and dress. Each one is a part of me and I can't think of anything else that is more personal in my wardrobe. This video is so cool I loved watching you work.

[@roycehellion]

You need a life

[@kasseen]

The hat looked perfectly fine before he went ahead an burnt the shit

[@Ketutar]

Not really. Had he not burned it, people would see that it's not perfectly fine. Now "it's supposed to be".

[@DredPirateRoberts]

Theatrics, hollywood isn't that far from Venice

[@khestal]

I've no idea what you said, Ketutar.

[@mikewolf3686]

Way better before the fire.

[@nattybushdoctor9021]

This video should be titled .. why this hat maker glues in his liners instead of sewing it in?? 7:57

[@mrvk699]

Killed that hat. One could argue that nothing beats time.

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

Huh? Celebrities don't have time. They gotta look cool NOW, for 15 minutes, then on to the next thing.

[@Varth_Dader.Twitch]

I'm glad the hat community is so small and not being ruined by society for money and quantity.

[@gregoutcalt6773]

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of videos I’ve watched on KZbin this is in my top 2-3 all time favorites..... and I don’t even wear hats.

[@phillykiki7320]

Check out Thunder Voice Eagle

[@SamWinderlich]

yep, looks like a burnt hat

[@treatb09]

my thoughts too. it was a nice hat, but then you lit it on fire...

[@GraphicArtist115]

@@treatb09 lol

[@varun009]

Customer: well, it doesn't fit and it has a huge hole in it not to mention it's fucking burnt! Hipster: **sweats nerviously** the beauty is in the mistakes.

[@billruber2861]

, I have worn hats my whole life my grandfather was also a hat man I guess I got it from him .Your right you have to own the look

[@ricdonato4328]

All too common spelling or word choice error: It should read you are or you're, not your. That which follows your belongs to the person you are conversing with.

[@surfgal77]

😱 This is craftsmanship at its best!!! Amazing 😍 It’s soooo beautiful what he’s doing and I love, that art like this will survive because of people like him 🙏🏻

[@krisstephens2156]

I purchased a hat from Penman Hat Company that actually has the original blocks for the Indy 4 hat. His work is top notch!!!

[@liposchak]

You people do not understand what goes into a handcrafted product. Handmade anything is top quality and would probably end up being an heirloom. Mass produced hats fall apart. I make everything and just started making felted hats by knitting them first then hand felting them. Itsa lot of work and the public just doesn't realize it.

[@antonhelsgaun]

Not really true though. The fact that something is mass produced doesn't make it worse quality, quite the contrary. I have only bought one handmade thing, and it broke

[@TsetsiStoyanova]

I am fascinated by this hat-making process!

[@princesunil26k]

Ohhh

[@shineliofficial9099]

👍

[@20vK]

Awesome crafter, awesome filmmaking. I loved everything about this.

[@marcoscunha2115]

buy an Akubra for 1/10 of the Nick´s hat price

[@Justgregular88]

Akubras are bonza

[@heinzguderianbutmoreyounge9659]

Nah,i love stetson more,don't have enough money buy vintage

[@thomasblevins1662]

To a lot of the critics here.... The true essence of wearing a hat is how you feel while wearing it. If you feel on top of the world in a cheap hat, mo power to ya. I myself, go for the look and not even look at the price tag. If it’s what I’m looking for, I’ll find the bucks....expensive or cheap. However, I don’t find many cheap hats that give me that great “feel”. Awesome work Nick. I’d love to meet ya sometime and buy ya a drink.

[@sunflower-oo1ff]

Wow Nick , you do awesome work! Thanks for this video !

[@DredPirateRoberts]

Rare field trip for Bloomberg to see how the middle class makes a living.

[@nadiar.7788]

The guy makes minimum $1K US a hat. He's not middle class.

[@dinkerz]

That dude was really cheesy but major props to the cinematographer. Those were some gorgeous shots!!

[@shineliofficial9099]

👍

[@ahmadfadzel7089]

Why it always in slow motion?

[@antonhelsgaun]

It makes it seem like he's doing a lot, while he isn't actually doing $1000's work

[@drewfriesen9025]

This guy just gave a bunch of more talented desperate artists the fundamentals of hat making. I think there’s gonna be a few for hat makers in America.

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

There's a reason there are so few hat makers.

[@KVandendriessche]

He keeps saying “we” but there’s no one else there 😳

[@Venomthegr8]

How to abuse the slo-mo button.....dam ....the whole video was slowed down ....thought I was having a stroke

[@brandonkey181]

More people need to see this video. This video is awesome.

[@Optimusprimerules1]

Are they $950 before or after the burning...?

[@dolcinafletcher5030]

You have to rock hats with confidence no matter the cost. Its like a piece of unique jewelry added to your outfit.

[@lostinspace1719]

Legend has it after 2 years hat still sits there ..

[@GraphicArtist115]

Lol

[@hugavet3049]

Great video. Great hats too. Love the artwork of both Nick and filmmaker.

[@anichoubouk9367]

Fabulous work and video.

[@SUPERSCUMDK]

Check out Hornskov Hats from Denmark. They have some pretty awesome videos here on KZbin aswell

[@eytanmerkier7861]

lovely video, really did enjoy it, was pleasantly surprised this came from Bloomberg though hahah

[@marcecobaya]

Eytan Merkier the way that their videos are edited.....on point

[@jackjill3205]

Headwear is very personal a crowning accoutrement to what ever you are wearing, Hudhuds are the pinnacle of elegance and style individually created to cater for your desired dress sense to wear fashionable clothing .

[@ljc6141]

Fire resistant hats, for the classy fireman

[@thecitizenjoan]

Wow everyone is sleeping on how gorgeous he is

[@nemphis95]

That nigga is ugly af

[@carmenmcallister5222]

I thought he looked a little like Brad Pitt.

[@GraphicArtist115]

@@nemphis95 lol

[@lindagreen9379]

What is the type of thread being used when you make the “x”, or the thread designs on the crown of a fedora?

[@suzannebeyer5369]

The hat on fire, so beautiful!

[@djordjeblaga7815]

Love the synthesizer work around 5:00

[@Cowboyup938]

Nice ! Good work, very good Congratulations!

[@777jrtrv]

Most amazing thing ive ever seen its always important for a hat to match you

[@Brownpenguin115]

Nothing will ever beat Stetson

[@noway234]

Except a Resistol Hat!!

[@Brownpenguin115]

@@noway234 True true

[@davidr6026]

Amazing! Terrific.

[@securit7590]

Amazing hats. Cool dude.

[@emilismelnikavicius503]

//QUESTION FOR HAT MAKERS// Does anyone know if you can do the sanding process like Nick does with any sort of felt, or just top-notch? Thank you in advance for the answer!

[@dwcannabisgrower8445]

Gotta own it! Totally rad dude👍.

[@straightshooter8443]

I bought a cowboy hat I liked for about $60.00 when I was younger. Wore it everyday while I worked on our farm. Hauling hay, mucking horse stalls, slopping the hogs, mending fences and taking care of the place. My “patina” was from many year of sweat from hard work and getting your hands dirty. It looked nothing like this fake fire look that he has going on here. But I guess nowadays it’s for the hip crowd that wants to look like they busted their ass working hard but, not really doing anything. I guess some people have more money than they’ve got sense!!!!

[@YakubibnEsau]

Straight Shooter, it’s pretty fake. Most people I know try not to get their dress hats, like a fedora, dirty. Why would I want to buy an abused fedora? Hell, I don’t get the idea of denim pants that look like they’ve been shredded by some starving lion.

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

@@YakubibnEsau - There's an ass for every seat. One man's trash is another's treasure. Build it and they will come. Etc. With 7 billion people on earth, you can sell anything to someone.

[@angelamarques3708]

Just amazing!

[@jameskann951]

Now with so many Hatmakers out there you can get a Custom Fur Felt Hat for $400-$500 not $1200.-$2000 for this Guy's Hats. However in Southern California there are a lot of wealthy People who will gladly pay $1500. for his Hats and of course his association with Neiman-Marcus Stores helps too probably Macy's too. His Family financially helped Nick get started and they are a Fashion Family so it wasn't that hard for him to become a Custom Hatmaker. The Rich get richer!

[@blastermaster5039]

Thats the nature of human ever since the dawn of time. Flexing wealth and acquiring wealth to flex more is a proven strategy not only to qcuire power but also to reproduce. I am just glad we as a species evolve to have sympathy with each other and learn to help the poor of our kind - but yeah, we still need to evolve more. 😅

[@lamar3448]

Stunning!

[@the.magnus]

Love me some Beaver felt

[@jambajoby32]

Lol

[@the.magnus]

@@jambajoby32 yay, finally someone got the joke 😹

[@darrenernest]

Really cool hat he’s wearing with the curvy brim

[@onecatsopinion]

Very nice... Love to see the process.

[@nephildevil]

“Mad Matter: "Have I gone mad?" Alice: "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

[@MrCoursair77]

Super outstanding Bro…!

[@NevolmonGaming]

meanwhile in the army they tell us to shape our berets with hot water and smooth it out with a shaving razor. lol

[@tashawood4657]

As someone who works in a hat shop everything he says is stuff I say to my customers everyday haha

[@इस्हाकरंजनजॉनजॉन]

Britain is great .I love Britain

[@robertrichter7702]

I’d love to have one of his hats , but I could get a custom for that much

[@nicholaslandolina]

He should do a car interior for the truck

[@adiroxstr]

This was beautiful! Love the process and the crafters vision. Thanks for sharing!

[@rosemarymccarter1596]

I would really love ❤️ to learn how 🤔 because I love wearing hats!

[@theedelluis]

Wow... very artistic...

[@nahimnalieldelacruzdelfin]

Nice job . Congratulations nick. Saludos desde mexico de un aprendiz de sombrerero. Mi linea de trabajo son los sombreros de charro.

[@Misterrocckettaro]

Does anyone know what does he use to set the hat on fire? 🔥 (I suppose rubbing alcool?)

[@marcuskoko5577]

"hats look cool on everbody" *doesn't look cool in a hat*

[@treatb09]

hes gay though...

[@joshuagarcia7791]

My respect to your art. My hats off to you.

[@diamondlouie5585]

How long does it take you to make a piece a art? How many steps does it take to make a hat without machines?

[@InsidetheBoothTV]

why is there no credit to this guy and his stuff? where do i find him?

[@gaesimmonds2165]

Where do you source your hat bodies?

[@andrewhager152]

How does one learn the process?

[@Shusha0029]

Of course he drives a old pickup 😂❤️

[@kairon156]

Very interesting video. I had no idea there were so few hat makers. Though I suspect a large part is many people are against furs and leather in general.

[@tsu1951]

spent the last 5 hours making my first hat. and right as I finish this video popped up :) mine was just a simple wet felted hat about doll size. absolutely nothing like he makes

[@ВикторияЛушникова-о2г]

mm, but what does he use for sanding? does anybody know?

[@TheMjj164TibBitsFromTheAttic]

Beautiful work

[@waltzingpeter]

I love people like this, totally invested in their passion. But i’ll take my Stetson Whippet over any other hat.

[@crisyorke1328]

I have a $1k beaver hat and I wouldn't burn it. LOL

[@InsidetheBoothTV]

cool.. does this guy still make hats?

[@leslieboles6439]

Awesome, I have to come and meet you sometime! I love hatmaking.

[@carlswenson5403]

I’ve had a team working on this over the past few weeks, and what I’ve come up with can be reduced to two fundamental concepts. One: People aren’t wearing enough hats. Two: Matter is energy. In the universe there are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person’s soul. However, this “soul” does not exist ab initio as orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved owing to man’s unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia. What was that about hats again?

[@johnschriber5077]

Where do you get the base felt dome?

[@civicspikes]

Loved the video!!

[@vipnetworker]

I respect the work, the passion, the time, the energy, the effort, the attention to detail, and the love for what he does... that said, those hats are ugly.

[@Talksnooker]

something as simple as ironing is so dramatized lol

[@OMGWTFLOLSMH]

That's KZbin for you these days. Everything has to be in slow motion, and/or shot with a drone, and/or have a generic droning EDM beat in the background.

[@GraphicArtist115]

@@OMGWTFLOLSMH lol

[@j.dtruths5577]

That was awesome!!!

[@mcnuggieguy]

Sometimes you don't want to discuss it, but rather demonstrate it