Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Fink.
Hi Todd, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
On the verge of becoming a professional skateboarder, I underwent a series of knee surgeries that ultimately ended my career. I was able to walk again after a year, but the previous decade spent mastering the skateboard hadn’t prepared me at all for the next stage of life. At college I started painting and was studying classical guitar when I met a group of friends who played in bands. Impressed and inspired, I made a band of my own. We called it The Faint. After 20+ years of making Faint records and touring to support them, it was time to stretch out.
The band had been a great way for me to develop my visual identity. Aside from album art, there was an endless need for posters, shirt designs, videos etc. I also found myself using my sewing skills to alter thrift clothes and hats for the stage. I’d always thought of myself as a hat person but I was never happy with store bought hats and learning to make my own was a slow process. I hadn’t ever met anyone who made hats and to be honest, I found it to be a fairly secretive trade. While there are classes available for milliners (womens decorative hats), I never found anything like that for hatters so it was something i had to teach myself. Once I had gathered about ten years experience, I was ready to launch Recapitate Headwear in 2017.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I find a deep satisfaction in making hats. Much like skateboarding and music, I feel like I’m observing the creative force of nature running through me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a trick, a song, or a hat, there is almost a holy quality to being in the zone. It’s egoless; and with my ego out of the equation, I have the freedom to make mistakes and to have the confidence to trust that I’ll know what to do next. Making songs and visual art for The Faint is really no different from designing hats. In both cases it’s a tug of war between the idea I’m trying to execute and whatever circumstance the project is currently in. I ask the song how it wants to go. I ask the hat what it wants to be. But, I think we all know from experience that the essence of creativity is being open and in the moment.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m the high desert hatter! I make high quality felt hats in modern shapes in my home workshop in Twentynine Palms, CA (Joshua Tree). Wide brim fedora hats, cowboy hats, and flat topped boleros are some of my most popular shapes. My hats have a minimalistic vintage handmade look to them. My process includes stretching steamed felt over antique or customized hat blocks. The felt is ironed, sanded and torched to create the special patina, I offer countless hat shapes in 11 sizes and 3 head oval shapes for each size. Most people find me through instagram (@RecapitateHeadwear), the website (RecapitateHeadwear.com), or they see my hats at my main retail location called Mojave Flea Trading Post in Yucca Valley (Joshua Tree area). I also offer custom hat appointments at my home workshop/showroom in Twentynine Palms. This is a great opportunity to get some professional input about how various styles suit you specifically.. Hat prices generally range from $350-$475. And then a full custom Recapitate hat is currently $525.
Pricing:
- $350 -$425 wool or hand woven palm straw
- $475 Recapitate wide brim
- $525 Custom hat experience
Contact Info:
- Website: RecapitateHeadwear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recapitateheadwear
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/thefaint
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/toddthefink
Image Credits
Todd with a toothpick by @casa_de_conejo 3 hat making photos by @bigdudeindenim Man in white sitting by @jondelouz
