As chic as a hamper from Fortnum & Mason, and just as recognisable, a black-on-white box from Lock & Co is a symbol of the heritage that makes it, the world’s oldest hatter, synonymous with the platonic ideal of English style.
Since 1759, its warren-like shop on the sunny side of St James’s Street has been a mecca for the world’s best dressed. Name a snappy gent – the Duke of Windsor or Anthony Eden, Oscar Wilde or Charlie Chaplin – and the chances are he purchased his headgear here. It’s even rumoured that Lewis Carroll was inspired by the mid-19th-century manager of Lock & Co, James Benning, to create the character of the Mad Hatter.
The connection with Alice notwithstanding, I can think of few establishments less subversive than this one. On the contrary: whether it be a refurbished silk topper for Royal Ascot, a tweed cap for the grouse moor or an impeccable Panama for the cricket, a hat from Lock & Co virtually guarantees its wearer will be comme il faut. Indeed, while it took the combined efforts of several elite tailors to evolve the look we today recognise as ‘Savile Row’, it was Lock alone that contributed the bowler hat, more correctly known as ‘the Coke’, to the national wardrobe.
Low-key but always correct, a hat from Lock is a hat for life. It’s impossible to buy better.
Lock & Co is located at 6 St James's Street, London SW1A 1EF. lockhatters.com
