Nick Fouquet: Creative Instinct
The artist, designer, and craftsman believes the best ideas come from keeping his eyes open.
By Karen Giberson
There are some people you meet who are difficult to put into one creative box. Nick Fouquet is one of them.
Yes, he is well-known for his hats, worn by some of the most recognizable names in fashion and entertainment. But as I spent time with Fouquet at his Venice, California store and factory, I soon realized the hats are only one part of a much bigger creative story.
He designs accessories, belts, leather goods, footwear, objects and ready-to-wear. He works with ceramics. He writes poetry. He surfs. He travels. He recently wrote an entire book to accompany a collection. And somehow, all of those skills and interests find their way back into his work.
Fouquet is, quite simply, a creative. Born in New York and raised between southwestern France and Florida, Fouquet is the only boy among five “wonderfully creative” sisters. His own creative career came later — he studied environmental science and sustainable development, and it wasn’t until his late twenties that fashion began to claim him as its own. Style, it can be said, had always been there, waiting.