Every winter, it’s typically the case {that a} particular cold-weather accent — a rainbow-check scarf, for instance — involves outline the season. This 12 months that merchandise seems to be a knit hat that could possibly be described as a child bonnet for adults. It additionally evokes a balaclava, main some sellers to christen it the “balabonnet.”
The accent, which has been embraced by a sure set of trendy ladies, is available in varied interpretations that vary from girlie to monastic. Many types will be tied underneath the chin to create a streamlined egg form, and a few have longer straps that may be wrapped across the neck like a shawl for a totally snooded look.
There are bonnets embellished with sterling-silver rings, just like the model by Gemsun, a model in New York Metropolis. Mimi Wade, a label in Los Angeles, makes a cutesy model with pointed cat ears. The hats are additionally bought at mall chains like Free Folks and Scorching Subject; the latter presents a bonnet coated in tiny pink bows.
A $210 model by Pien Studios, a four-year-old label in Amsterdam, has emerged as one of the vital covetable. The fuzzy hat, which the model calls a balaclava, is fabricated from a mix of mohair, merino wool and silk and has skinny, scarflike ties. Produced in a handful of colours, it’s bought at stylish boutiques internationally, together with Amomento in Seoul, Esmeralda Serviced Division in Tokyo and Carmen in Amsterdam.
Grace Hwang, an promoting inventive director in Brooklyn, purchased a Pien Studios hat final 12 months at Tangerine, a multibrand retailer in Williamsburg. Ms. Hwang, 33, mentioned she had seen ladies in New York Metropolis carrying bonnets of varied designs, and referred to as her Pien Studios model probably the most versatile winter accent that she owns. (She prefers to name it a hat-scarf, not a bonnet.)
The Pien Studios hat has an ovular form that Pien Barendregt, the label’s founder, mentioned was impressed by these of space-age-style hats from the Nineteen Sixties. Ms. Barendregt, 30, added that she aimed for a silhouette that appeared female in contrast with bulkier winter gear. “It appears to be like actually elegant when you have an excellent huge coat; it balances it properly,” she mentioned.
Whereas the label calls its hat a balaclava, Ms. Barendregt agreed it was extra of a bonnet and mentioned she had obtained requests to make kids’s variations. When she launched the model two and a half years in the past, many ladies described it as nostalgic, she mentioned, including that bonnets are sensible equipment for the chilly, damp winters in Amsterdam, the place she lives, as a result of they envelop the top like a hood.
Ms. Barendregt used to knit every hat herself, she mentioned, however she lately outsourced their manufacturing as a way to fulfill the a whole bunch of orders she has obtained this winter.
Lau Frías, 30, purchased a white Pien Studios hat at Bomi, a boutique in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, in October. “It seems like an elevated model of the various bonnets on the market,” mentioned Ms. Frías, who works in music and lives in Brooklyn. She sees the rising curiosity within the accent as indicative of girls not dressing to be seen by males, however as an alternative “fascinated about trying cute for the feminine gaze,” she mentioned.
Whereas a wide array of bonnets is available in shops, persons are additionally knitting their very own. A number of patternmakers have launched D.I.Y. templates, together with PetiteKnit, a Danish firm well-liked with youthful knitters, which sells the sample for its Sophie Hood — a bonnet-scarf hybrid — for 35 Danish kroner, or about $5. An Instagram video displaying a completed model of the hat has been considered greater than 16 million instances since being posted in late December.
The PetiteKnit founder, Mette Okkels, 35, mentioned the hood was designed to be a little bit slouchy as a result of she thinks tightfitting bonnets look too much like variations for infants. “I don’t really feel prepared for that,” she mentioned.
Just lately, on the weekly knitting occasions hosted by Knit Membership, a yarn retailer in Windfall, R.I., a majority of the attendees have arrived carrying bonnets of their very own creation, mentioned Lindsay Degen, the shop’s proprietor.
“And it’s not at all times identical folks each time,” added Ms. Degen, who can be a knitwear designer. “It’s a large factor.”
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