The Art of Western Hat Making with Greeley Hat Works Owner, Trent Johnson

“I’ve always been into hats,” says Trent Johnson, the owner and “creative vision officer” of Colorado-based Greeley Hat Works. He’s only the fourth hatmaker to own the more-than-100-years-old company. “When I was a kid, my grandfathers wore hats—both Western and fedoras,” he says. Johnson started at Greeley Hat Works as an apprentice while still in college. At that time (in the 1980s), the business was owned by Susie Orr and operated from her family ranch.

The conformateur, a French tool created in the 19th century, is placed on the client’s head to determine the specific shape, subtle distinctions, and centerline measurement. It creates a paper pattern from which the hat will ultimately be constructed. | Photo by Caree Prince

“I went out to the ranch and asked Susie about a job,” he recalls. “I told her that I didn’t know much about anything but was willing to learn.” While he worked on the ranch, he also cleaned and blocked hats at the hat shop. He gradually learned the craft of making custom hats using traditional Parisian hat-making tools. “From start to finish, it takes a few weeks to make a custom hat—and every step is done by hand,” he says. Clients are not only cowboys, ranchers and rodeo queens but also diplomats and dignitaries. He recalls meeting then President George W. Bush in the Oval Office to deliver a specially made hat (with the presidential seal on the sweatband).

The fictional “Yellowstone” Dutton Ranch brand is a Hooked Rocking Y. Greeley Hat Works made hats for the cast of the cable hit series “Yellowstone” and is licensed to create exact replicas. | Photo courtesy of Greeley Hat Works

Greeley Hat Works was chosen to create hats for the cast of “Yellowstone,” the most-watched series on cable TV. The neo-Western follows the Dutton family (owners of the largest ranch in Montana) as they struggle to protect not only their own long-standing way of life and but also the pristine wildness of the entire state. Kevin Costner, best known for Westerns like “Dances with Wolves” and “Open Range,” plays John Dutton, the family’s tough-as-nails patriarch.

Johnson prepares to shape a hat with steam, which loosens the fibers and allows him to manipulate the shape. The hat retains this shape after it cools. | Photo by Cesar Torres

In May 2017, Johnson received a script of the very first episode of “Yellowstone” from cowboy-turned-actor- turned-filmmaker Taylor Sheridan, the show’s writer and director. “I made him a hat way back in 2010 and I guess he really liked it,” says Johnson with a smile, “because he asked me to create hats for entire cast.” The task was to create brand-new hats and then make them look old. Johnson spent two weeks on location—riding out on horse- back and getting to know the characters.

He observed and took notes. He watched the way Kevin Costner grabbed his hat to take it off, for example. “He does it the same way every time,” says Johnson. “I’m sure he doesn’t even think about it … It is muscle memory.” Back at the shop, Johnson was able to “distress” the hats with perfectly placed dirt and sweat stains and the shiny-in-spots look that a well- worn hat develops over time.

The “newly-aged” hats created for the “Yellowstone” cast. | Photo courtesy of Greeley Hat Works

Greeley Hat Works has a license with Paramount and global entertainment company 101 Studios to produce exact replicas of the “Yellowstone” hats with the Dutton Ranch logo on the sweatband and liner. Once purchased, the hats are customized to the buyer’s measurements. “Because ‘one size fits no one,’ we spend more than 12 hours— over two-plus weeks—on a single hat,” says Johnson.

As seen in ML’s July/August 2023 Issue