Some places exist in your imagination long before you ever get there.
The Soleil Collection began with Jeff Koons' the Apollo Windspinner, a monumental sun sculpture on the Greek island of Hydra. We haven't been to Hydra yet, but the sculpture, the island and the atmosphere surrounding it sparked something for us – a place we hope to experience for ourselves one day.
We started thinking about the sun not simply as an object, but as a moment of transition. The darkness before sunrise. The warmth of a secluded beach in the middle of the day. The feeling of moving between shadow and light.
From that came two hats.
Soleil Levant takes its name from the first light of day. Handwoven in black toquilla straw, its darker silhouette is finished with saltwater pearls and a small gold-plated sun – a quiet reference to the moment when the sun begins to appear.
Plage Isolée moves in the opposite direction. White straw, warm gold and blue details evoke the brightness of a Mediterranean shore, a place to disappear for an afternoon and let the day slow down.