Londa Msanii dreams in color. Bold, bright and beautiful color.
The dreams are where she gets inspiration for her one-of-a-kind fedora hats.
“I sleep with a notebook by my bed because I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for my next design and need to sketch it right then and there,” she says.
The whole hat-making thing wasn’t always her lifework. Growing up, Msanii would take apart her mother’s clothes just to sew them back together. But with limited resources to get material or attend classes, fashion faded for Msanii—until she attended an Ebony Fashion Show.
“I was watching the models come out, but all I could think about was what was going on behind the stage that was causing these women to come out with such incredible confidence,” she says.
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Msanii is now a triple threat, one who designs clothes, jewelry and hats in hopes to give that sense of assurance to others. The hats have taken off in ways she could never have expected.
Because every hat takes roughly 18 hours to make, every waking (and sleeping) minute matters for Msanii. Her hats are eclectic, urban, African and American. They look both simple and intricate. Made from felt with ornate bead designs along the rim, each fedora ($125) is completely unique.
“The first thing I start with is the base color, which is the hat itself. The hat will just sit until colors start coming to me,” says Msanii. “Then I’ll lay out all the beads and add and take away until I can’t imagine it any other way.”
If this sounds like a perfectionist’s nightmare, Msanii assured me it’s just the opposite.
“The hats are the best part of me. I am most at peace when making a hat,” she says. “I have yet to see a completed design and felt like I should have done something different.”
When a hat is born from such certainty, it can’t help but transfer that feeling to the wearer.
“I want you to feel as comfortable as I did making it,” Msanii says. “I want you to feel free.”
Sweet dreams are made of that.
