"The Godfather is the leader of the family. This hat is exactly that—in the hat game," says Tony Arcabascio, the New York-based designer of the limited edition Il Padrino ("The Godfather"), Kangol's lack, fur felt fedora. Arcabascio learned about respect and hats from his Italian grandfathers. "My biggest influences were images of my nonno Antonio playing bocce at the park with his hat on, and nonno Ernesto, with his hat tilted slightly to one side." Packaged in a leather hatbox lined in blood-red satin, the fedora comes with four 14-karat gold hatpins and feather holders, as well as three different feathers. "As my family became Americanized, wearing fedoras became a thing of the past," Tony says. "I'm here to help bring it back."

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Posted on November 16, 2006 | Permalink | More Pronto articles