Cart
Your cart is empty
Foremost has spent decades making and studying headwear. The museum extends that experience into a wider exploration of how hats reflect identity, craftsmanship, fashion and changing ways of life.
Jeffrey Sun began collecting headwear in 2006. The collection grew into the Foremost Hat Museum, founded in 2014 and registered as a museum in 2019.
Today, the museum preserves historic and contemporary headwear for exhibitions, research, education and future study.
From symbols of rank and identity to fashion, craft and working life, the collection traces how hats have reflected the societies that made and wore them.
1 / 5 — Symbols Of Rank
Symbols Of Rank
Historic Chinese crowns, official headwear and ceremonial pieces reveal how hats once communicated status, authority and social order.
The gallery also explores how traditional forms and decorative techniques continue to inform contemporary design.
Style Through the 20th Century
Cloche hats, berets, formal hats and classic millinery pieces trace a century of changing ideas about elegance, identity and personal style.
Historic tools and construction references also offer a closer look at how these forms were made.
Headwear Across Cultures
Headwear from China, Central Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas shows how climate, belief, local materials and social traditions shape what people wear.
Together, these objects reveal both the diversity of headwear and the human needs shared across cultures.
Crafted by Hand
Straw weaving, millinery tools and traditional decorative techniques reveal the patience, material knowledge and skilled hands behind every well-made hat.
The gallery connects historic craft with the makers and materials that continue to shape headwear today.
Hats at Work
Military, academic and occupational hats demonstrate how headwear continues to communicate profession, responsibility, achievement and belonging.
Many of these objects carry personal stories, including pieces donated by visitors and long-term partners of the museum.
The museum gives researchers and Foremost designers access to historic silhouettes, proportions, materials, construction methods and decoration techniques.
These references are studied through documentation, drawing, material research and sampling. Collaboration with universities and cultural institutions brings additional knowledge and new perspectives.
This work supports a deeper understanding of headwear while encouraging thoughtful contemporary design.
Archive → Research → Material Study → Sampling → New Headwear
Craft survives when its knowledge remains visible, useful and open to new interpretation. The museum studies how materials and techniques have evolved—and how they can continue responsibly.
From traditional Chinese straw braiding to Ecuadorian toquilla weaving, straw hats carry generations of knowledge about climate, natural materials and hand construction.
The museum preserves examples of these traditions while Foremost continues to study their structure, finish and relevance to contemporary headwear.
Historic kingfisher-feather decoration is known for its distinctive blue colour and intricate surface. To study its visual language without relying on protected wildlife, Foremost designers work with alternatives such as dyed goose feathers, peacock feathers and textile materials.
The result preserves the discipline and visual character of the technique while giving it a responsible contemporary expression.
Textile offcuts from hat production are transformed into zodiac artworks by Foremost designers. Each piece extends the life of existing materials while encouraging experimentation beyond commercial production.
The continuing series shows how material awareness, craft and cultural expression can grow from the same workshop.
A museum should document the present as carefully as it preserves the past. The 101 Initiative collects and studies the materials, designs and cultural expressions being created today—so future generations can understand how headwear continued to evolve in our time.
Why 101? One hundred suggests completion. One hundred and one marks the next beginning: another experiment, another discovery and another reason to keep moving forward.
Discover historic and contemporary headwear from around the world, and explore how hats reflect identity, craft, culture and changing ways of life.
Visits are available by reservation. Admission is free.
