Naman Shrestha
Have you always wanted premium headwear with a better fit and feel? Well, the wait is finally over, thanks to Hood Hats. Focusing on the quality and fitting of the ball caps it provides, Hood Hat provides a line of luxury headwear, which is showcased in front of five investors on episode 21 of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ season 15. Regardless of sealing a deal with one of the sharks, featuring on the show garnered attention and generated curiosity among potential customers surrounding the brand.
Hood Hat: Who Are They And What Do They Do?
Growing up on Staten Island inspired Max Nelson with the idea of creating Hood Hat. It all stemmed from his childhood, as in his formative years, he spent a lot of time playing stickball in his elementary school. Before joining Davidson College, he attended Staten Island Academy. Around 2016, Max invested in a Brentwood house and decided to renovate it. So, he went out looking for a good-quality baseball cap to get protection from the sun’s rays. After going into several shops and not liking any of them, as most of them had too many prints on them, he finally found a simple cap for about $6.
Max took that hat and decided to print Brentwood with the help of a small manufacturer. This modified hat of his was admired by a random salesman at a Sid Mashburn store. The salesman also suggested changing the cap’s acrylic blend to 100 percent wool. This suggestion got Max thinking and got him researching pure wool hats. However, he learned that nobody was dealing with such caps in the market. This obsession led him to a New York guy who possessed just the right fabric he was looking for. Thus, he got another hat made from that material, after which the old one felt cheap and unfit.
This inspired him to create more caps of the same fabric and fit, expanding the line that featured ten caps for ten different Los Angeles-area neighborhoods. In a conversation with Canvas Rebel, Max talked about Hood Hat and the idea behind it. He said, “…We use materials like merino wool, gabardine, cashmere, and Japanese twill. So the idea was giving the customer a better finish to their fit and a piece of headwear that is better aligned with the rest of their wardrobe as far as quality goes.” He further elaborated, “HOOD designs and manufactures timeless, customizable luxury headwear. We were purpose-built to disrupt traditional headwear and, in doing so, created a category, luxury headwear.”
Hood Hat Update: Where Are They Now?
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Hood Hat represents the confluence of sport, music, fashion, and art. When asked about the funding he generated to kickstart his business in the interview with Canvas Rebel, Max Nelson revealed, “I self-funded the business, and two years in, we did a friends and family round, but to this day, we haven’t taken institutional money and as glamorous as the VC thing sounds, we kind of pride ourselves on the fact that we’ve been able to figure that part out on our own.”
Dealing with only premium and customized luxury ball caps, Hood Hat is known to donate 5% of its sales to The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), an organization aiming to put an end to mass incarceration in the state of California. Ever since its inception, Hood Hats have been donned by some of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment industry, such as Jay Z, Ryan Reynolds, Floyd Mayweather, Sophia Culpo, Ben Affleck, Rick Ross, Jake Paul, Zach Braff, Swizz Beatz, Nas, and many more. If you wish to own your very own Hood Hat, you can choose from a line of different luxury caps, available in more than 30 colors, from the brand’s official website.
Usually, the price range is from $65 to $120 depending on the type of cap, but there are regular discounts and offers, such as 40% off ten or more hats and Buy One Get One 50% off. Max Nelson also took pride in his products, as he stated, “I am really proud of our product and craftsmanship and the experience we deliver to our customers but I think I am most proud of their feedback to our hats. Our reviews are pretty exceptional and really make me smile and feel like we are on the right track. You consistently see people responding to the quality, level of customer service, and a common line we here is ‘everyone is asking me where I got it.'”
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