Karema Deodato
How did you become a hat lover?
My mother, who was and still is a big hat lover, passed down her love of hats. She immigrated to NYC from Brasil in the 1960s and was also a designer of clothing and accessories. She has always loved fashion, and this meant I was exposed to her broad-ranging tastes. Growing up, she took me to some of her favorite shops in New York like; Charivari, Comme Des Garçons, IF, and a handful of independent designer shops on the Lower East Side, she often went home with a new hat. When I was five, my mother lost all of her hair from her chemo treatments, and hats became a daily wardrobe essential for her, so her collection grew and grew. When I was nine, my mother traveled to Nepal and brought back the most beautiful hats-velvet embroidered Dhaka Topis and the softest shearling trapper hats-some of which I still have and cherish to this day.
I also just grew to love hats out of necessity, aka on days I don’t want to style my messy hair, hats are my answer!!!
Describe your creative process, from start to finish. Any challenges along the way?
I tend to design for myself, something I was taught never to do when I was in design school! So I start with color, texture, fabric, and work from there. Do I need a cute hat to shield me from the sun or a cozy chunky winter hat? It is pretty straightforward until I start making the hat. I often improvise the process, spending the most time on blocking, cutting, and sewing. The process itself takes over the design. There are always challenges:
Stiff felts that are hard to block and nearly break your fingers.
Designs that look good in my mind but turn out just meh or ugly in a wrong way.
Injuries like steam burns, pinpricks, and much more!
You learned from renowned milliner Janet Linville; how was that experience?
It was great! Janet Linville was and still is the head milliner at The Metropolitan Opera. She can make ANY kind of hat you can imagine. I learned a lot of costume history and historical construction from working with her. I stitched many top hats and a lot of hand-picked grosgrain bindings and enjoyed every second of it!
What project has made you the proudest?
It has to be my very first hat, a cute little rayon velvet fez I made when I was 14. I was so proud of it I had to keep making more hats.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
It can come from anywhere, but the most inspiring aspect and what I love the most is the process itself. Every bit of construction-the blocking, the basting, the machine stitching, then finally the hat coming to life on the wearer. I love constructing each hat every bit as much as designing it.
What do you love most about making things with your hands?
I thought about this a few days ago. My mother recounted how much I loved taking all the eggs out of the fridge when I was a toddler and crushing them with my hands-she said, “isn’t that strange,” and I said, “hell no” - tactile stuff is so stimulating. I love playing with my daughter’s slime. What can I say! But there is also a lot of satisfaction in commanding a medium with your hands to what you want it to be/what you want it to do or being challenged by its particular limitations and creating something cool under those conditions. It’s very exploratory.
What projects are you currently working on?
I recently joined an artist’s cooperative shop called Workshop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. This is where I currently house and sell my collection alongside several wonderful local artists and designers. It is a labor of love and a joy to be able to share a shop space with a creative community. We are building a unique retail environment from the ground up.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into the industry?
As with any other business, I recommend you love it, do what you love and your passion shines through.
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