Words: Matthew Burgos / itsmatthewburgos

Photography: Andy CR / whatiisthepoint

The culture of hat wearing accessorizes one’s style as it adorns a waft of sophistication to their fashion statement. While the truth rings in such a motive, hats have long become a proverb to self too. The ornament crowned on one’s head contours the face, spotlights the outfit, protects the hair and head from sun rays or drizzle, and conceals a bad-hair day. The amalgamation of these features breathes in RYO Hats’ philosophy. More than these, the hat house envisions a well-fitted crown for its clients that functions as an extension of their style and flair.

RYO Hats is a Barcelona-based design brand that produces contemporary and unique hats using traditional millinery techniques and high-quality natural materials. Their hats celebrate individuality and translate the modern hat culture into a bespoke handmade craft infused with passion. Kalyn Ishikawa, a graduate of Industrial Design from Universidad de Buenos Aires, is the mastermind behind the hat house. While she devotes her time guaranteeing the calibre of her hats, she also leaps at tying up style and confidence in her creations. “Style is crucial. It lives in what we do and acts as an expression of who we are. It reflects the confidence we exude and may help build it up. Style complements confidence. When the former is authentic, one becomes exposed to the public, which then harnesses the latter to shape our character,” Ishikawa tells French Fries Magazine.

Hat-making speaks of a process, and Ishikawa applies meticulous, century-aged techniques to spearhead her craftsmanship. She carves two pathways as her kickoff: she meets her clients, converses with them on the look they envision, and informs them of the materials, designs, and time, or she rifles through her rough sketches and patches of her dispersed inspiration, and build her new design through the formation of a singular, clear picture from the tidbits of her thoughts. She picks out her hat block, a wood surface to pattern the hat, depending on the size and form of the hat she creates. She skims through the style she will produce, a variety that includes fedora, cowboy, boater, and porkpie.

While the conventional felt, a cloth made from wool and hair, adopts muted colors, Ishikawa leans on the contrast between royal and neutral palettes to embellish her hats with a standout aesthetics. For her editorial at French Fries Magazine, Ishikawa lent a black fedora hat with a yellow lining on the edge, and an imperial blue with jags of white lines and crossovers of blue and black beads. With these hats, she shaped them by hand and pressed them with a scalding steam and set of trade tools over the hat blocks. She set the hats aside for a period to allow the fabric to absorb the heat and remain intact. Once she picked them up again, she sanded, brushed, and stiffened the felt to achieve her desired finish.

Ishikawa removes the shaped felt from the hat block to cut and shape the brim. She molds and steams it before sculpting the crown part. The hats wear a leather skin or a fabric sweatband which Ishikawa stitches in place. To conclude, she decorates the hats with an outer band, bow or feathers. “The hat-making process may take up from a couple of days to weeks, depending on the project,” she says.

Kalyn Ishikawa forages for materials that endure the test of time, but she acknowledges the boundaries the felt allow her to wield. “Even with great techniques and tools, there is a limit on what one can do, if they are not working with the best materials,” she says. What weighs more in her disposition comes with the translation of the original ideas or sentiments she nurses with into functional, symbolic and graceful designs.

The era of punk-rock lives in this French Fries editorial. Model Mario Milan Asensio MSB wears mustard and black jackets by La Voyage Vintage and black and blue hats by Ryo Hats to embody the eloquence of a rock star. Hair and makeup Lucile Piccolini completes the grunge and icon-like look of the model while photographer Andy CR binges on documenting his fashion, career, and life. Here’s to living like Jim Morrison.

Styling: Ryo Hats / ryo_hats

Hair and makeup: Lucile Piccolini / lucile__piccolini

Creative environment: Tres Senyores Workshop / taller.tressenyores

Model: Mario Milan Asensio MSB / msbmario_milan
@ Trend Models