For the first half of the twentieth century, Giovannio’s was an importer of fine Italian textiles. Giovannio himself made it his focus to provide fine textiles to milliners who could appreciate style and elegance. Then, in 2000, Giovannio’s was acquired by a milliner, and they began to produce hats of their own. Forward thinking design is still the main focus of the company, and has been a mainstay of the Hats in the Belfry collection for many years.
Part of the great appeal of a Giovannio hat is it’s forward thinking style and material, but that appeal comes at an extremely reasonably price point. While we love and appreciate our more exclusive designer hats, we also know that not every wants to make that much of investment all at once. The Derby Race season can be an expensive one for anyone, and sometimes a little budgeting is necessary. Enter the Giovannio hat: a hat that does not sacrifice quality and style for a lower price point. Rather, it makes for an excellent balance between price and quality.
It’s easy to talk about the elegant style of the Giovannio hat, but what really sets them apart? Giovannio got it’s start with textiles, so it’s not really a surprise that materials is one of their great strengths. One of their signature moves is to use sinamay, a processed weave made from a type of banana palm, in the construction of their summer dress hats and fascinators. This makes for a characteristically light and airy hat. This light and airy look is only increased by the construction of their hats, which is usually asymmetrical and set a little higher on the head. This airy look is perfect for the spring and summer months, and melds seamlessly with any Derby look.
Giovannio also makes a fall/winter collection to compliment their spring/summer collection. While not as light and airy as their spring/summer collection, Giovannio takes the same care with fine textiles and styling construction that we have come to expect. Fine wools take the place of sinamay, and women’s safari style fedoras might be more prominent than wide brimmed dress hats, but it’s the same old Giovannio that we know and love.
Different Styles of Giovannio Hats
Another of Giovannio’s strengths is the pure variety of hats available through them. Wide brimmed women’s dress hats have been a long time favorite, with their effortless grace and easy styling, and they shade the eyes to boot. Giovannio also makes excellent fascinators, if that’s a little bit more your style. So called women’s “hatinators” have also been appearing on the scene more and more in recent years. These fascinators are made in the shape of classic, usually typically male, hats, like top hats or bowlers, but they can be basically any hat style, but they are made small, about the size of a fascinator, so they sit high and petite on the head. In addition to more fashion forward hats, Giovannio also provides a great range of hats in classic styles. The Pillbox, which will never really go out of fashion, is a classic touch to an outfit, and really helps the wearer stand out from the crowd.
Giovannio has a long and rich tradition of providing quality, elegant, hats, and it has continued that tradition into the twenty first century. They have a close thumb on the heartbeat of Derby fashion, and you can trust that you will always look stylish in a Giovannio hat, and that you will be able to find one to fit your need, with a seemingly endless variety of hats and fascinators that come in a vast number of colors and materials.
