Playback time: 9 minutes
Laurence Bossion's diary, chapter 5
If the sun shines for everyone, rain, drizzle and sleet have a very similar sense of justice: when it falls, it's for everyone, and particularly in autumn, that goes without saying. No nasty surprises at Laurence Bossion, where the rain hat has been around forever, with a surprising ambition: to look chic in the pouring rain. Like a fedora or a bibi, this soft hat embodies the refinement of a Parisian house capable of handcrafting accessories as useful as they are beautiful. Technical fabric? It's far from being a taboo at Laurence Bossion, who designs her waterproof, supple rain hats as the perfect allies to face both light and heavy squalls. Visually, Laurence Bossion's bobs and rain hats evoke a timeless trench coat, a jacket or a high-tech windbreaker; the fancy vinyls add a touch of urban mischief, like a neon glow in the rain.
Transportable at leisure, it folds up and slips into a bag or the inside pocket of a coat, ready to be adopted at the first drop. Sporty in its inspiration, utilitarian in its use, refined in its allure, it embodies the perfect balance between function and desire - a rain hat that, in short, makes you love the rain.
History
Hats designed to shelter the head from the rain are nothing new. We know that, in various parts of the world, simple models made of plant fibers or felt were designed to repel water or wind. The "bob" style - or bucket hat - which resembles our bob today, has its origins in the late XIXᵉ / early XXᵉ century in Ireland: fishermen and farmers wore hats made of felted wool or tweed which, thanks to their natural lanolin, repelled water. In the purely rainy domain, the so-called "sou'wester" hat - with a wide back flap - was intended for sailors in the XIXᵉ to keep their necks dry under the spray. Over the decades, these utilitarian pieces were transposed to the city and to fashion: only in the 1960s did vinyl models make their appearance as objects of elegant pleasure in the rain.
5 SHOWERS, 5 DISTRICTS AND AS MANY REASONS TO COLLECT RAIN HATS
Le Marais
This is the neighborhood for fashionistas who don't shy away from traditional hats. Go for a Balmoral-style wide-brimmed rain hat. A strong model for an arty look.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Autumn rain on the quays of Saint-Germain. The bookshops smell of tea and damp paper. I open my rain hat in gabardine-style technical fabric, matching my trendy nerd trench coat.
Passy Trocadéro
Between the opulent avenues of the 16ᵉ and their counter-alleys, the rain doesn't spare the posh western districts where the merino wool felt cloche hat, as hard-wearing and all-terrain as its canvas cousins, rolls up and slips easily into the large pockets of a Barbour.
Pigalle
Rain and neon mingle in Pigalle, with the Moulin Rouge backdrop, and in this slightly sultry setting, we almost feel like playing Belle de Jour with a little black vinyl bob, of course.
Rue Saint-Honoré
The artery of Parisian luxury demands a rain hat lined with premium tweed and made from a technical fabric that looks like satin. Here, no one messes with Parisian chic, even in the middle of a storm.
LAURENCE MEMORIES
THE FUCKED-UP FELT
"A customer, a regular in fact, came in one day with a felt cloche hat she hadn't bought from Laurence Bossion. The hat was as hard as a bicycle helmet, for the simple reason that the seller of this model had waterproofed it at the time of purchase. The road to hell is paved with good intentions! A felted wool is essentially a tightly-wound wool, pressed to the maximum to make it weatherproof. There's no point in adding a strong chemical that can react badly. This is even truer with rabbit or beaver felts, which are naturally resistant. Fortunately, with a little know-how and a lot of experience, we were able to restore his hat to like-new condition.