TREMÉ STRAW RANCHER HAT

Brim: 2 3/4"
Crown: 4 3/4"
Crown Shape: Cattleman
Band: 1 1/2" distressed grosgrain w/ bow
Liner: None
Sweatband: Leather
Adjustable: Yes

The community of Tremé (pronounced "Trem-ay") in New Orleans is one of the most historically significant neighborhoods in the country.

This was the first place in the South that free people of color could own land. Congo Square became a hub for African culture — a place where the enslaved and freed people could meet and embrace shared experience, music, language and food.

So much of what we know as "American" music came out of Tremé. It was from here that jazz emerged, next blending with the area's heavy Caribbean influence to inspire Afro-Cuban jazz. Earl Palmer, the pioneer of early rock and roll's fundamental backbeat, grew up in Tremé to become one of the most prolific studio drummers of all time.

It's also a place of profound struggle, pain and suffering — historically as well as in more modern times. And while nothing ought to erase, excuse or continue to facilitate those challenges, the fruits of that environment — as well as the determination that it has fostered — serve as magnificent examples of human spirit.

All of this led us to Tremé as an influence for this hat. Something about the spirit of New Orleans and its rich heritage lent itself to a brim like this. Wear it with pride, then go out and do something amazing.