PK: When you started, did you expect that this would become your lifelong profession?
No, I didn't think about it like that at all. It was supposed to be something I did for a while just to help my family. However, I really liked it and wanted to continue. So I learned this profession, passed the apprenticeship exam, and then the master's exam. And so it went by. I trained in this profession for 4 years. This year marked 24 years of my activity. Soon there will be a nice round anniversary, but unfortunately no one will give me a bonus. This is definitely a disadvantage of being self-employed. [laughter] The advantage is that I am my own boss, cleaner and so on.
PK: Can you tell us who your typical clients are?
Customers are different, there are no rules here. It depends very much on the season in question. Last year, a lot of young people came to me. Some come to buy something specific, others visit me out of curiosity. Many young people come out of curiosity and leave with a cap or hat.
Hats are less popular these days than they used to be. I think it's largely because it's hard to find ones that are made properly. Many people like caps and hats, but when they don't find one that looks good, they often give up. Many customers, when they find out that a place like my studio exists, are eager to come - they want to see, check and buy something that will make them look good.
PK: Are there any rules regarding headgear?
Each headgear should be appropriately matched to the face. Not everyone will look good in the same thing. When it comes to properly fitting a hat or cap, it is largely a matter of practice. Proportions are very important here. A poorly selected headgear can affect our figure.
A few years ago, men's hats with large brims were very popular. At that time I had a client who was quite short and was planning to buy just such a hat. He didn't look good in it. The brim of a hat can be quite overwhelming and make us look shorter than we actually are. If someone is short, a smaller, rolled-up brim will work better.
PK: Do you advise your clients?
Yes, I always suggest what may work and what is not necessarily the best choice. If the client needs advice, I advise, but of course the choice is always up to the client.
I try to make customers happy. Word of mouth is very important in my profession. Although in recent years, this role has been partially taken over by social media - especially when we are talking about younger audiences.
PK: Do clients always trust your advice?
Usually yes. But sometimes it happens that when it comes to matters such as sizing, the customer thinks he knows better. Many of them come back later and agree with me.
I had customers who, when buying linen hats, did not believe me that such a hat would shrink slightly. They assumed that when they started wearing it, on the contrary, the hat would stretch, so they chose smaller sizes. Linen, on the other hand, shrinks from moisture. A few days after the purchase, they came back and asked if I could stretch the hat for them a bit. [laughter]
PK: What surprises your customers the most?
Customers who visit me are usually surprised when they learn that everything is made here, on site. Some of them initially think that I only sell headgear. They don't know that I do it all myself.
PK: When you started, did you expect that this would become your lifelong profession?
No, I didn't think about it like that at all. It was supposed to be something I did for a while just to help my family. However, I really liked it and wanted to continue. So I learned this profession, passed the apprenticeship exam, and then the master's exam.
And so it went by. I trained in this profession for 4 years. This year marked 24 years of my activity. Soon there will be a nice round anniversary, but unfortunately no one will give me a bonus. This is definitely a disadvantage of being self-employed. [laughter] The advantage is that I am my own boss, cleaner and so on.
PK: Can you tell us who your typical clients are?
Customers are different, there are no rules here. It depends very much on the season in question. Last year, a lot of young people came to me. Some come to buy something specific, others visit me out of curiosity. Many young people come out of curiosity and leave with a cap or hat.
Hats are less popular these days than they used to be. I think it's largely because it's hard to find ones that are made properly. Many people like caps and hats, but when they don't find one that looks good, they often give up. Many customers, when they find out that a place like my studio exists, are eager to come - they want to see, check and buy something that will make them look good.
PK: Are there any rules regarding headgear?
Each headgear should be appropriately matched to the face. Not everyone will look good in the same thing. When it comes to properly fitting a hat or cap, it is largely a matter of practice. Proportions are very important here. A poorly selected headgear can affect our figure.
A few years ago, men's hats with large brims were very popular. At that time I had a client who was quite short and was planning to buy just such a hat. He didn't look good in it. The brim of a hat can be quite overwhelming and make us look shorter than we actually are. If someone is short, a smaller, rolled-up brim will work better.
PK: Do you advise your clients?
Yes, I always suggest what may work and what is not necessarily the best choice. If the client needs advice, I advise, but of course the choice is always up to the client.
I try to make customers happy. Word of mouth is very important in my profession. Although in recent years, this role has been partially taken over by social media - especially when we are talking about younger audiences.
PK: Do clients always trust your advice?
Usually yes. But sometimes it happens that when it comes to matters such as sizing, the customer thinks he knows better. Many of them come back later and agree with me.
I had customers who, when buying linen hats, did not believe me that such a hat would shrink slightly. They assumed that when they started wearing it, on the contrary, the hat would stretch, so they chose smaller sizes. Linen, on the other hand, shrinks from moisture. A few days after the purchase, they came back and asked if I could stretch the hat for them a bit. [laughter]
PK: What surprises your customers the most?
Customers who visit me are usually surprised when they learn that everything is made here, on site. Some of them initially think that I only sell headgear. They don't know that I do it all myself.
PK: It's definitely a nice surprise for them. Can you tell us what this process looks like?
The production of headgear begins with the selection of the appropriate fabric. The type of material we use depends to some extent on the type of hat. This is important because not all materials will drape in the right way.
Once you find the fabric, use an appropriate form to draw and cut out the elements that will create the hat. I have different molds for given designs and sizes. The ones I use are inherited from my uncle, who drew people wearing headgear on each of them.
After cutting out the fabric elements, I sew them on the sewing machine. I also have another machine that is used exclusively for sewing visors to uniform caps. You also need to check whether the cap is the correct size after sewing. Sometimes a slight shift when sewing the elements results in the hat being too small or too large. After sewing, we sew in the linings and other elements available in a given model.
When everything is in place, we put the sewn hat on a special block. The blocks come in different sizes, so we choose the one appropriate to the size of the hat. These blocks consist of several parts, so after selecting the appropriate size, we connect all its elements - as if they were a puzzle. Then we put the hat on the block and start ironing.
First, we iron the outer part of the hat with an iron. To iron the inside, we need a special machine. By ironing the interior, we know that all the elements inside are arranged correctly and nothing will be crushed later.
If the cap has any peaks and so on, of course it all needs to be sewn on properly. But that's all philosophy. Then all you have to do is wait for the customer who will buy the hat.
PK: Is the process very different for hats?
Yes, this process is different. In the case of hats, the process consists primarily of modeling the material in such a way as to achieve a shape suitable for a given model. Modeling such material begins with stretching it onto a special cone. Obtaining the right shape requires a lot of practice and experience, it is difficult to describe it simply.
Once you have the right shape, wait until the hat dries. If any part gets wet, it will deform later. Such drying usually takes about 24 hours. Then the brim is cut, the linings are finished and ribbons or other decorations are added.
PK: And what makes such a hat keep its shape?
It's a secret! [laughter]
Certainly not hairspray. Some time ago, a lady came to me and wanted me to steam her hat. As soon as I let off steam, the hat turned all white. It turned out that the lady had read on the Internet that hairspray can be used to stiffen a hat, so before coming to me, she sprayed it with hairspray.
Unfortunately, the Internet does not always help.
PK: You talked about the appropriate selection of materials. What materials do you use to create your products?
These are primarily natural fabrics. For summer headgear, I mainly use cotton and linen. For winter ones, I use wool. Some special hats, such as student hats, use velvet. In this case, I use Polish velvet, which is made of cotton. I already have a lot of proven materials.
PK: Some hats also have other elements, for example metal. Where do you get these elements?
When it comes to leather elements, various strings and so on, there is no problem with ordering such elements. Some of them I simply buy in various haberdashery shops. The biggest challenge is obtaining metal elements - I often need specific patterns that have to be made to order. Fortunately, I managed to find such a guy - a craftsman who makes things from metal. Currently, he is the one who makes these items to order for me. I also cooperate with other craftsmen.
PK: You have been active for many years. Have the materials and types of headgear changed much over time?
Fashion always changes a little, but generally everything goes in circles. Shapes also change. Sometimes they are wider, sometimes narrower, sometimes one color and sometimes another, and so on. But these are not big changes, because a flat cap is a flat cap, there is nothing to change too much. Moreover, fashion for what was worn in the past comes back sooner or later.
I don't know what will be fashionable next season. Flat caps were fashionable that season
PK: Why the sudden popularity of flat caps?
This style of hats was re-promoted by the popular series Peaky Blinders. So much so that I had a few clients who asked me to sew a razor blade into such a flat cap - to imitate what the characters in the series did. Of course it wasn't a real razor blade. It was a thicker metal cast that was not sharp and only imitated the shape of a razor blade.
PK: Does pop culture often influence what kind of headgear your customers are looking for?
Yes, definitely.
People often come to me who have seen an artist or musician wearing a given hat and are looking for something similar. If I don't have something like that on offer, they sometimes ask if I would make such a hat.
Do you undertake such individual orders?
If I can, I will do it, if I can't, then I won't. With such orders, I always inform the client that there is a risk that the final product will not look and function exactly like the reference he shows me. Customers sometimes do not realize that the hat will fit differently depending on the fabric used. That's why it's hard to do something based on a photo, for example.
I also make hats for theaters, reenactments and universities. In these cases, I often take inspiration from photos. Whenever possible, I try to see similar items live. Sometimes when I recreate historical headgear, I visit museums to get a better look at models from a given period. Then, looking at such caps or hats, I try to "catch" their dimensions and proportions. Sometimes I even sketch something based on them. Theoretically, you can write a letter to the curator asking to take such an exhibit out of the display case, but the waiting time is long and there is no guarantee that I will receive such permission.
PK: You mentioned hats for universities. Can you tell us more about this?
There used to be a tradition that each university had its own student caps. They were somewhat forgotten about and many universities did not use them for years. Recently, Polish universities are starting to return to this tradition. They search the archives for patterns and colors of hats worn by students.
There are as many as 18 colors of such hats at the Jagiellonian University. A different color for each department. Each corresponding to the gown of a given dean. There is even the so-called Student Cap Brotherhood, with which I cooperate.
I am currently creating such hats for several universities in Poland. I work min. with the already mentioned Jagiellonian University, the University of Silesia and the Cracow University of Technology.
PK: Has your work and the process of creating caps and hats changed over the 24 years you have been in business?
I started my business in 1990.
This process actually looks the same as it did many years ago. I make caps and hats in the same way as my ancestors. Of course, the sewing machine is no longer pedal-powered, it is electric, just like the iron, which used to be electric. Apart from that, nothing has changed. We can't come up with anything else here, because it's the work of our hands and a bit of invention. What is changing is the popularity of this profession. When I started learning it, there were over 10 hat makers in Krakow. At this moment I was alone.
However, I notice that people are already a bit fed up with Chinese food and chain stores. A visible trend is that customers are returning to shopping in smaller, local stores. There are more and more people who are willing to pay more to have something made individually for them. We'll see if this trend will continue - time will tell.
PK: You told us a lot about the different headgear you produce. Are there any that you particularly enjoy creating?
I like my job, so I enjoy working on all the hats and hats.
PK: Are some more difficult to make than others?
Each one is easy to make if you know how. Likewise, each one is difficult when you do it for the first time. When you don't have any form, you have to think and test different solutions.
PK: Do you also wear hats every day?
Oh yes! As always, I am the first to put on my hat when fall approaches and the last to take it off when spring comes.
PK: Would you like to say something to young artists who want to engage in such creative, craft work?
Patience. A good result will come with time. It's impossible to do everything at once.
