"Gaudí's head shape was perfect, both for its size and configuration"

BarcelonaThe hat shop Mil (Fontanella, 20, in Barcelona) has become a hopeful exception among Barcelona's emblematic businesses. While in recent years real estate pressure has forced some owners to close, Núria Arnau, fourth generation of the business, reached an agreement with the building's owner company, Catalana d'Occident, for them to renew the lease and avoid moving. Arnau and her two sons, Sergi and Jordi Creus, were not confident since the COVID restrictions ended, and had started holding public activities in their workshop, but Occident not only renewed their contract at an affordable price, but also financed the renovation of the premises.

"What they've done is amazing," acknowledges Núria Arnau, who wears a boater hat she has decorated with a ribbon she made herself, with pleats reminiscent of an origami figure. She has also put on the master artisan's brooch she received a few months ago. "We've been lucky, I hope this serves as a first step for the same to happen in other cases. The negotiation wasn't very complicated because they were willing to help us," says Jordi Creus. And now that they don't have to worry about rent, Creus wants to delve deeper into his work. "I always have in mind to expand the culture of hats a bit, so that people understand what a hat is, because clearly they don't know," he warns.

Thanks to Occident, the Arnau family has been able to celebrate the hat shop's 170th anniversary without having to start over elsewhere. And the celebrations continue, as they have wanted to join the events of Gaudí Year, paying homage to the architect with a special display where a photograph of him can be seen and a hat very similar to the one he wore in the image. The accessory belonged to the inventor of Anís del Mono. Gaudí had his hats made at the Arnau's hat shop. In addition, inside the display case there is a reproduction of the template of Gaudí's head shape. As the accompanying text, by Eduard Arnau, states, the measurements had been taken by his father in 1886, when they had the hat shop on Carrer Nou de la Rambla. "I consider Gaudí's head shape to be perfect, both in size and configuration," says the text. "Gaudí had a small head, he used a size 56," says Núria Arnau. But she also explains that it was a common size. "In more or less a century, hats have grown one or two sizes," says Jordi Creus.

In addition to exhibiting it, they also sell replicas of Gaudí's hat, which is made of hair felt and costs 390 euros, although they have more affordable models starting from around 70 euros. Custom-made hats are finished between one week and ten days. "When in the summer I see someone wearing a hat, the first thing I think is that they want to protect themselves. And then I look at the quality, and sometimes I see things that I regret, because all hat makers miss the existence of a hat culture. Sometimes I see hats that want to look like felt, but are actually made of polyester fiber, and hats that look like straw, but are not. We would like people to understand the importance of the quality of materials," warns Núria Arnau.

The two remaining deganes hat shops

The trajectory of the Mil hat shop began in 1856 on Hospital street, and the second generation moved it to Fontanella street in 1917. "After the demolition of the walls, they had the shrewdness to come to the center," says Jordi Creus. While traditionally they only made men's hats, his grandmother introduced women's hats, and now the business is rather balanced. And one of Núria Arnau's main contributions is that she started visiting international fairs to broaden the business's horizons. But historically the situation has changed a lot, downwards. "Before there were as many hat shops as there are now 24-hour supermarkets," laments Jordi Creus. The fact that cars replaced carriages meant that hats had to be smaller, and sometimes they were associated with conservatism.

Currently in Barcelona there are two hat shops left, Mil and Obach. "In Catalonia, the issue of hats and ceremonial headwear is a bit complicated, because we are very austere," warns Núria. "For a long time, the number one item has been caps, especially baseball caps, and in the summer, the Panama hat," adds Núria. Younger customers dare to wear personalized felt hats, sometimes with painted feathers, but what has marked each era is cinema and series. In recent years, Irish caps, like those from the series Peaky Blinders are very fashionable. On the website, the hat known as the Bogart Cut is currently sold out. Like everything in the world of fashion, in the world of hats there are all kinds of customers: some wear the same hat until it is so worn out that they have to replace it, and, on the other hand, others keep buying them. "I have a friend who has more than 100," says Arnau, who collaborates with events like the Hat Walk, the last edition of which reached a record figure of about 3,000 participants, according to the organizers.

Two classics among hats are the bowler and the top hat. The most exceptional top hat is one that has mechanisms inside to fold it so it doesn't take up so much space in theatre wardrobes. There are very few manufacturers left of this hat, which can cost up to 1,000 euros. All in all, it's a world with many facets: the Fedora is a soft hat with pleats on the crown, and a pork pie is a small hat with a low, flat crown, and a short brim turned up. "Hats were bought from the factory with an open crown, that is, with the crown full, and at the workshop they would press it into the shape they wanted," says Arnau. Among the most expensive hats they have in stock is one from the Italian house Borsalino designed to be foldable. "Borsalino was born one year after us, in 1857," says Núria. On the other hand, their work also includes collaborations with the world of theatre and musicals, including Les Misérables. "We have made a top hat 27 centimeters high because it had to contain a smoke machine inside," explains Arnau.