One December morning, among the few passengers waiting for the G train in Brooklyn, New York, I saw a tall black man in a colorful jacket and cowboy hat. I took some pictures introducing myself Richard Faison. “I’m also an artist and I made this hat,” he told me.
A few weeks later, a friend who was visiting from Florence casually mentioned that she wanted to buy a hat while she was there, and I arranged to see Faison in her lab, which also happened to be her apartment. The one-bedroom apartment was filled with dozens of hats in various stages of existence and along with my friend Michele’s green hat, two more were ‘stuck’ and drying near the window. On the wall hung a shtreimelthe first that Faison made: these hats, traditionally worn by Orthodox Jewish men, were in fact his specialty.
Sitting with Faison on her couch that day, and even more recently, I asked her a few questions. Our conversations have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Francesca Magnani: Before, you were a filmmaker. How did you become a milliner?
Richard Faison: I did a little program at the NY Film Academy for eight months. I started making movies by carrying my mother’s video camera and filming all my friends and my adventures, editing cool videos and creating a series that became very popular on Facebook. This led me to make music videos. I went to Toronto after meeting a few artists there, and became an editor and director of photography for short films and documentaries. I started making legit hats by accident. I was friends with a Hasidic gentleman, Lov, and he came to my house for a drink with some friends. He said, “You always wear cool hats, you should work with a guy I sell fur to.” That’s how I met my mentor and how this whole adventure began.
FM: How do the two worlds, cinema and millinery, work in synergy?
RF: They are similar. You have to have an eye and a certain aesthetic that you want to give to your pieces. The vision I see of a hat is like how I used to imagine what I wanted certain shots to look like before I went out to shoot, and just create something with a story that people can relate to or admire.
FM: You started your own business just a few months ago, last September. How did you start your own business, Oliver Lewis Hats?
RF: My mentor helped me: I worked for him in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for about three years. The day I asked for a second raise, he took me for a long drive and looked me straight in the eye. He said: “You are a real artist with your hands, but I will never pay you what you deserve. Those words were the most beautiful and hurtful I’ve heard in a single sentence. After that, he bought me my first hat body and told me where to find more, and I started racing.
FM: Coming from a cinematographic background, are there artists and directors you draw inspiration from?
RF: My number one influence should be Jimi Hendrix. His style, his grace, the risks he took, how groovy he was, everything! I used to watch his old gigs and get lost in his rhythm and clothing choices. The second is André 3000 from Outkast. I moved to Atlanta in 2003 for high school. I remember being bullied for wearing tight jeans at the time, but looking at the shirts, pants and hats Andre 3000 wore, and it gave me the confidence to be myself, no matter what other people thought.
FM: How do you reach customers? Who are your best customers?
RF: I reach my clients best through Instagram, where I can show off my skills through video reels and also communicate directly with my audience. I have an even number of male and female clients – the age range is usually 30-40 and things are just getting started now.
FM: You said you designed your own collage technique for shtreimels; you use Swiss figurines that are usually found on “Swiss cowboy” belts as ornaments, and your company name comes from Oliver Lewis, the first black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. How do influences from different cultures influence your designs?
RF: Influences are how I became. They are the essence of my whole being and my work. Growing up in Brooklyn, I had so many cultures around me that would impact me. My dad being from Trinidad and being a huge cowboy fan was one of the biggest for me. I watched Clint Eastwood movies with him and thought cowboys were the coolest people in the world. Then I found out that most cowboys were actually Mexican and black and that piqued my curiosity.
FM: We met on a train platform. What is the place of the street in your work?
RF: I draw a lot of inspiration from Italians in New York (such a fluid style!), Jamaicans and Hispanic communities. Flatbush’s melting pot helped me create my unique style.
