Making Headway : L.A. Designer-Entrepreneur Has His Following of Hat Lovers

Glenn Hill’s mission in life is to convince hat lovers they don’t have to motor to department stores to find a chic chapeau.

For three years, Hill has been creating original headpieces for a loyal clientele in his Leimert Park shop. Last Saturday, Hill’s loyalists sipped coffee for an early morning show where models glided through Franklin’s restaurant, around the corner from Hill’s shop, called Mattie’s Place after his grandmother. Hats included some of Hill’s custom designs, as well as several by Don Anderson, Bellini of New York and Jack McConnell, also carried in his store.

Drama is the big news for fall ’90. Outlandish Saturn-inspired shapes, colorful plumage, amoeba-patterned rhinestones and yards of horsehair all add to the textural emphasis of the season’s hats. Though fall’s spice colors--nutmeg, saffron and cinnamon--figure into the seasonal scheme, bright hues of emerald, violet, peacock blue, canary yellow and fuchsia caught the eye of Hill’s patrons.

“My customers like really high-profile hats, and they don’t mind paying a lot of money for that attention,” says Hill. His prices start at $30 for a Kufi, a fez-like style of African origin, and escalate to as high as $600 for extravagant custom designs. Hill also does a brisk wedding headpiece custom business.

The 38-year-old entrepreneur graduated from L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 1976, but he learned basic hat-making from a tailor. He perfected his craft through trial and error making hats for his grandmother and her friends. Eventually, Hill’s hobby grew into a business, though he continues to work as a Delta Airlines flight attendant while partner Steven McGrew tends the shop.

Some of Hill’s trims and materials for his custom designs come from New York millinery supply houses. Hill also makes frequent pilgrimages to Dallas, Philadelphia and Montreal for headgear. For all his travels, Hill says it’s the Los Angeles attitude that appeals to him because the Southern California woman is into no-rules dressing. Fashion mores, such as wearing straw hats in summer only and wool in winter only, don’t apply here. A hat by Sandra of New York featuring both materials proved a big hit.

“Because of the seasonlessness of this place, women wear straw in December if the weather calls for it. It’s the ‘I wear what I feel like wearing’ attitude.”