January 19, 2017

A young couple turning heads with their old-school hattery

In a globalised world with a market flooded with monster brands, real craftsmen and their artisan crafts are endangered. However, a young couple in Vienna has embraced the artisan art of hatmaking – that’s right, by hand – and we visited them in their little workshop where they’re toiling away on their ever increasing hats, Nomade Moderne hats.

This tiny little new shop on the Naschmarkt block is making our style buds go all wild with excitement. The hat store’s Nomade Moderne owners, Nuriel Molcho and his fiancee, Audrey Lee James, defy all stereotypes of people their age – 1: they’re already getting married, and 2: while most people their age are chasing after the IT trends, they’ve stepped back in time and learned the craft of hatmaking. They represent a trend amongst the Generation Ys discovering that everything old is new again. And it just so happens that after a long hiatus, the trend of accessorising your head with a hat, is back, and in a big way.
The Nomade Moderne hats workshop is across the way from Nuriel’s family’s Oriental restaurant ‘Neni.’

We sat down with Nuriel for an Israeli-style, ‘tea with nana,’ at Neni during which he told me all about his love and fascination for hats.

I've always loved hats and anything vintage that tells a story. It’s a genuine lifestyle that gets lost in our generation and the way we live. Men's fashion is no longer authentic; men no longer want to wear specially designed shoes or hats.

While Nuriel was always interested in buying old watches and art, he claims that modern fashion has become too minimalistic, favouring comfort over style.

While Nuriel has been a centre in the making of the Tel Aviv Beach and Neni, this is his first escapade with design.
“I came to notice hats while living in the second district of Vienna, an area in which there are a lot of Jewish people. I think that being Jewish myself, I subconsciously see people wearing religious hats more than other people do.” The currently trending black, wide-brimmed “black hat” or Borsalino is most commonly associated with ultra-Orthodox non-Hasidic Jews.

Nuriel tells us that he’s fascinated by the stories that hats tell about the owner who wears it on their head. He felt that hats had had their day and that they were a misunderstood fashion accessory.

A lot of people don't get the story behind hats today and so they don't wear them. Perhaps it's a price question, but everyone should be able to design their headpiece in their own way and add their own story and trademarks to their hats.

So Nuriel set off to make his own.

The entrepreneur started YouTubing his new obsession and meeting up with old hat makers to learn their skills and know-how, and to learn some real hat history. Nuriel found his mentor in a Rabbi, who is one of the few hat makers in Vienna who produces hats for all kinds of clientele, from religious Jews wearing Kosher hats to the iconic bowler hats worn by Viennese Fiaker drivers.

After learning the basics, he started looking for old equipment at vintage stores and got to work making his first handmade hat. While his first attempt turned out crooked and awkward looking, by his second, he’d refined his craft. Shortly after, Nuriel and Audrey were making hats by the order, and had opened up their shop, Nomade Moderne.

Nuriel and Audrey are now fulfilling orders for customised hats daily, especially since the word of Nomade Moderne crossed the Viennese Danube and wandered all the way to Berlin. While Audrey focuses on the sewing, Nuriel does the shaping of the headpieces.