The Mad Hatter Is Real and He lives in Venice Beach

February 8, 2018

Once upon a time in America, hidden behind the beach where they attempted to rebuild the canals of Venice, you’ll find him…

Look for the twinkling lights, the dream catchers and the crooked sign with a fedora and there, through an open door of the mystic den all in black, the mad hatter awaits.

His name is Nick Fouquet and he says he’s part human, part animal. He’s also French. And he makes hats … psychedelic bourgeoisie bohemian ones. If he ever had the chance to make one for his idol, he reckons it would have a bullet hole in the side of the crown.

Two of his hats actually ended up on the heads of Pharrell Williams and Madonna at this year’s Grammy awards, which is pretty neat for someone who didn’t even know hat-making was his “thing” until a few years ago, when he met a cowboy that told him that there were only 25 hat makers left in America. With that, Nick decided to become a part of that world; the last of the hat makers.

He tracked down retiring milliners in their closing shops, bought the machinery and learned the craft in a basement for two years before landing himself an atelier on the historical shopping boulevard of Venice Beach, Abbot Kinney.

Oh, and he does this awesome and slightly mad thing to distress his hats– he sets them on fire. Actually, Nick’s unofficial “signature” is to add a matchstick to the ribbon of a hat. Check him out in action…

For a while there however, like all great creatives, Nick Fouquet might have been what society likes to call, a bit of a screw-up. He was kicked out of boarding school as a kid and after finally graduating, he “stole his mom’s credit card” and disappeared to Patagonia for five months.

“My future was looking more like forestry or a recluse in the high mountains of Colorado as a field worker,” he notes. After his stint in South America, Nick re-emerged, well-travelled, and actually got himself a BA in environmental sciences and sustainable development. He then traveled some more, modelled for Ralph Lauren in New York (let’s not kid ourselves, the guy is a total babe), emulated a native American adventurer in Colorado and eventually settled in California in 2008. His story is all here in a nutshell, laid out in a nice little timeline he made…

But without further ado, let’s get to those mad beautiful hats. Now, you’re going to want one naturally, so it’s best we start by telling you how. The ideal way is to go to the shop and see Nick and his team in person, but if like me, you’re stuck all the way on the other side of the globe, it’s not the only way. You can browse the online collection, pick your fancy and then over the phone and through emails back & forth with Nick, together you can create your perfect chapeau. Of course, if you can get there yourself, you could bring your own personal items to add to the hat. You could also just pick one right off the shop shelf if it’s love at first site. Here’s an idea of what you might find…