I recently picked up what I think might be the perfect summer hat: a sisal Lock & Co with a slightly shorter 6.5m brim, low fitting crown, and a dark navy band. Sisal is a type of fiber drawn from the agave plant, which is indigenous to North and Central America, but mostly grown today in Brazil, Mexico, and parts of East Africa. It’s a rather strong fiber, which is why it’s been traditionally used to make rope, twine, and sacks for agricultural purposes.
Lock & Co’s sisal hat is a few shades lighter than peanut butter and woven with a slightly looser weave. I find the combination gives the piece a more causal feel than your traditional cream-colored straw Panama. A welcomed thing when hats are so uncommon for men nowadays.
Pictured here are photos of Mark Cho in the same piece, which he wore at the last Pitti Uomo tradeshow. I admit these are the same photos that inspired my purchase. When the hat came to me last week, the brim was slightly turned up, but I found it could be easily reshaped by gently wetting the material and reforming it with my hands. And unlike my Panama, this fiber seems to have a bit more memory, so you can reshape it once and never need to worry about it again.
For those interested in one, I recommend contacting The Armoury. The model name is Napoli and the price is 2400 HKD (about $300 USD). Not a cheap purchase, to be sure, but if I could only have one summer hat, this would be it.
(Pictures by Alan See, Ethan Newton, Tommy Ton, and Details Magazine)