I've always reached for a cap before leaving the house & I never quite knew why. It could just be to keep the sun out my eyes or the bitter wind off my forehead. More likely, it was the easiest way to solve my unruly hair before leaving out the door. But whatever the reason, I'd always finish my outfit with a cap.
It took two years of drafts, sketches, tests & samples to finally create a piece I'd wear everyday, not for the look alone but the practicality too. We made several different pieces, all of which seemed right at the time, but they weren't forever pieces. The wool & cashmere cap was the first piece where our vision of Vitoso became crystal clear.
We had two primary focuses when designing the caps & these were; One, to create pieces that could move seamlessly from meetings in the city to moments in the country side & Two, to create pieces that could fare the British seasons.
British seasons are a guessing game to say the least. One minute you're walking the dogs through a sunny field, then the next you're under the closest tree, using it as cover. So the goal was to create a cap that could hold up across all of it. This led us to a fabric milled using a tightly woven cashmere wool blend. The natural oils in the wool allow it to absorb up to 30 percent of its own weight in moisture before beginning to dampen. The cap is double lined in these cashmere wool fabric, keeping the inside dry even when the sky doesn't agree. The inner rim has been woven using a cotton sweatband, inspired by the tones of the Somerset countryside during winter which sits in quiet contrast to "Hawthorn" & "Dusk", two rich but subtly toned dyes.
The focus stays on the material & the silhouette opposed to logos & embroideries. A cap meant for the meetings as much as the moments between them. Finished with our subtle pause symbol. A gentle reminder to stop, savour & share.
