The Case for Bucket Hats as Fashion Armor
Kendall Jenner is one of the most photographed models of the moment. This New York Fashion Week, she was seen dashing from one presentation and party to the next—and, in between, the paparazzi were documenting her every move. She’s fashion month’s easiest-to-spot It girl: follow the rapid-fire flashes and clicks of cameras, and she’s likely at the center of the storm. With that kind of pressure to be on point at all times, it makes sense, then, that Jenner has developed her own defense mechanism against those pesky cameramen, using fashion to do it.
In Manhattan last night, Jenner hit the streets armed with a strategic accessory: the anti-paparazzi hat. The model, who has been known to flip the bird at photographers, chose a different approach for avoiding them this time around: concealing them from her sight entirely with an eye-shielding chapeau. And she chose a chic way to do it, courtesy of an on-trend bucket hat in shiny black patent. On the Spring 2019 runways, there were plenty of versions: at 3.1 Phillip Lim, the bucket hats were minimal in white or black; at Anna Sui, they were covered in groovier tie-dye.
Jenner is hardly the first celebrity to use such a topper to her advantage. Earlier this year, Dua Lipa sported a big floppy faux-fur hat by Emma Brewin while attempting to go undercover at the airport. Bella Hadid has found coverage under Jacquemus’s supersize straw hat, Still, while Jenner tried to go incognito this week, she did make sure the rest of her ensemble was ready to be seen by the masses: she wore a graphic Marine Serre top printed with artwork by Hélène Jeudy, a Paris-based artist, and paired it with cool, high-waisted jeans. On her feet, furry mules by Milin added a more whimsical touch.
The takeaway: even for those without photographers following their every move, the concealing bucket hat can be used as a fashion power play—especially on those days where you don’t want to see or be seen.
Below, shop more of spring’s must-have bucket hats.
