Tom Ford's Faux Mink Pimp Hat is Already My NYFW Highlight

Some of you aren’t talking about pimp hats enough and it shows. Luckily, on night one of New York Fashion Week, the perennially past-gazing Tom Ford presented a collection full of the iconic accessory that dotted the slickest city corners through the 70’s and 80’s, reminding us that the wide-brimmed hats were once emblems of power and hustle and not associated with whack wannabes.

Mr. Ford’s versions were fashioned from lush faux furs in pastel pinks and purples and cocked to the side just over one eye as if to say “Look, Cookie...” They were cheeky, and humorous, but there were also very Tom Ford—which is to say that they were also incredibly sexy.

A model walks the runway at the Tom Ford Ready to Wear Autumn/Winter 2019-2020 fashion show. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

Perched just north of his classic slinky suiting, I saw a powerful signifier reframed for a boss woman who only answers to herself. These hats were giving me “ladies is pimps too, go on brush your (strong-silhouetted, silk-draped) shoulders off.”

A few miles south at IMG and Harlem Fashion Row’s “Next of Kin” exhibition launch, I was delighted to see the real deal: the bright yellow and zebra "Fly Guy" look that honoree and zeitgeist-defining costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, created for Do the Right Thing.

Images courtesy of IMG.

You better believe there was a matching pimp hat to rival all pimp hats and an elevator heel complete with happy swimming goldfish. MOOD. The show focuses on vignettes of the Black American experience including original costumes by Carter and reimagined iterations by stylist Ibrahim. A great reminder that so much of what we love today has a provenance in black expression, creativity, and style—including those perfect pieces perched atop the heads of show-opener Anok Yai and ready-to-wear closer Joan Smalls at Tom Ford.