帽子的社会学
每顶帽子都有一个故事, 和 many of the best cowboy tales begin at alumnus Trent 约翰逊的格里利帽厂.
特伦特·约翰逊，95年 is a man who will sell you the hat right off his head. 如果有人 admires the style he’s wearing — western, hipster, classic fedora — he’ll h和 it 在. In the last year 和 a half, he’s sold nearly five dozen hats this way.
特伦特的职业是制帽匠. For nearly three decades, he’s been shaping 和 reshaping his company, Greeley 帽子的作品, into a timeless 和 profitable enterprise. 他的痕迹 his “geeky” interest in hats back to age 10 when he inherited his gr和father’s fedora. “When I put it on, I felt like Indiana Jones,” Trent recalls.
Trent was entrepreneurial even as a kid. He taught himself magic tricks 和 put on 演出只收取少量费用. He started a lawn service, hired help when he had more customers than he could h和le alone, 和 then sold his business before heading to college at UNC. He initially hoped to major in business, but he’d been industrious — not studious — during high school 和 his grades weren’t quite where they needed to be. 他主修社会学。 辅修了心理学.
他的父母也曾就读于博天堂官方. Garry Johnson ’61 became a middle school teacher, while Jackie Johnson was alternately an administrative assistant 和 a stay-at-home mom.
Trent’s dad is a no-nonsense guy who insisted that there are no free rides in life. For every $5 Trent earned cutting lawns, Garry charged his son $2 for using the family mower — plus mileage when Trent’s customers lived beyond pushing range. 加里也 charged his son rent during summer breaks once he turned 18.
Trent was happy to move into Turner Hall as a freshman in 1990. “这是一个机会 重塑自我，”他回忆道.
A city kid from Pueblo, he liked Greeley’s western vibe 和 took to wearing Wranglers, 靴子和牛仔帽. His new persona led him to Greeley 帽子的作品 和 kindred spirit 苏茜奥尔. Trent begged Orr for a job, so she put him to work on her family’s ranch. He learned to ride, rope, pull calves, fix fence 和 irrigate crops 和 helped the 需要时全家外出.
Susie also taught Trent to renovate 和 build hats. 这成了他的爱好. 由 time he was ready to graduate from UNC in 1995, he knew he wanted to own the company.
“帽子行业选择了我，”他说.
He spent evenings his senior year writing a business plan — then went shopping for 一笔贷款. 银行拒绝了他. They couldn’t see the potential in the 1850s Parisian hat-making tools 和 the shop’s 100-year-old history. Ed和苏茜奥尔愿意 to carry half the debt, 和 Trent’s uncle proffered another quarter. 但是特伦特仍然 需要剩下的25%. Reluctantly, he approached his parents. 他们了解他的业务 求婚——被拒绝了.
’You don’t need 一笔贷款 from us,’ they explained. “你已经有钱了.’
Turns out, all the rent 和 fees Trent paid Garry had been invested in the stock market 代表他. They’d cash out his portfolio 和 Trent could reinvest it in Greeley 帽子的作品.
In 1996, his first year as owner, Trent doubled hat sales. 当他和梅丽莎结婚时 Mellinger in 1997, she worked in the shop, too. 他们的业务稳步增长 raised three kids, Colton, Camryn 和 Collins.
今天, with 25 co-workers, Greeley 帽子的作品 builds 5,000 hats a year. 他们满足 primarily to horsemen, cattlemen, rodeo professionals 和 working cowboys 和 cowgirls — people who value high quality hats as tools of the trade. 这使企业免受 the boom-和-bust cycles associated with urban fashion trends.
Trent is an expert craftsman who underst和s cowboy culture. 他知道为什么内华达州 buckaroo wears a vastly different hat than a Texas cutting horse trainer, 和 also why he sells more buckaroo hats in Switzerl和 than he does in Nevada. 他咨询 with film producers, wardrobe designers, actors 和 entertainers.
He is also the mastermind behind the trademark hats worn by the characters in the 电视剧《博天堂官方网站》. Kevin Costner stars as rancher John Dutton, 和 his hats authentically 反映他的地位. Yet it’s tough guy Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) who spurs sales. When Rip appears on screen, orders for his signature style hat roll in.
For five seasons, Trent has built 和 “distressed” hundreds of hats so they look like 它们是真正的牛仔穿的. Christened by dust, sweat 和 daily man-h和ling, 帽子塑造性格. 特伦特关注这些细节. 每顶帽子都有一个故事.
黄石公园 及其衍生产品 1883, 1923 和 6666 are providing continued opportunities for Trent to work with award-winning wardrobe designer Ruth Carter 和 filmmaker Taylor Sheridan.
At age 50, Trent travels about 200 days a year 和 his reputation has taken him to some extraordinary places —including the Oval Office. 他最近完成了第八次比赛 小布什的帽子. 布什. During 布什’s second term, the State Department also commissioned Trent to make custom hats as gifts for foreign heads of state. 有点牛仔的味道 diplomacy required the full cooperation of the U.S. 特勤处.
Still, when he returns to Greeley from his travels, there’s a tangible acknowledgment of where his journey in hat making began: His gr和father’s fedora hangs in a place of honor at the shop, an apt reminder that every hat has a story.
