Brimmed hats are back in style for men

When it comes to the influence of pop culture, few can top singer, songwriter, producer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams, but even his most ardent fans were left a little nonplussed when he sported an oversized vintage Vivienne Westwood "Mountain" hat at the Grammy Awards in January.

The hat, brown felt and standing eight inches (20cm) from crown to peak, dominated not only Williams' head but the post-show headlines, tweets and Facebook chatter - it even spawned its own Twitter account. And it isn't just Williams. Jared Leto and Johnny Depp are rarely seen without hats these days.

Despite all the amused social media interest, Depp, Leto and Williams' fondness for handmade, traditionally constructed hats is part of a wider trend in menswear - the long-awaited return of brimmed hats.

"Pharrell, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, God love them all, they've been absolutely and hugely effective in making proper hats, real hats cool again," says Allison Bard, general manager of Kaminski XY, an Australian hatmaker.

Bard says the recent upswing in interest has allowed Kaminski XY to move beyond its core markets of Australia, Japan and the US to cities such as Hong Kong.

Once a staple of every man's wardrobe, rich and poor, the brimmed hat began to disappear in the 1960s as society and fashion rebelled against constricting formality and uniformity. In the following years, in the US especially, the baseball cap became more favoured for men.