Jeffrey Sun, widely known within the industry as “Hat Bro,” has devoted more than three decades to the global hat industry. Yet throughout his journey, he has consistently transcended the conventional boundaries of manufacturing and trade. Guided by the belief that culture gives industry its soul and art renews its vitality, he has long pursued a broader vision — empowering the global hat industry through culture, aesthetics, and long-term thinking.
Years of industrial experience and worldwide collecting have never been merely personal accumulation, but preparation for deeper cultural cultivation. His enduring mission is to present the millennia-old culture of hats to the world, allowing traditional craftsmanship to live within the contemporary age while giving the global hat industry a sustainable cultural foundation.
Over the decades, Jeffrey has traveled across dozens of countries, continuously collecting, researching, and documenting the civilizations of hats around the world. This lifelong dedication led to the establishment of a professional hat museum housing nearly 7,000 pieces. The collection systematically preserves historical and contemporary hats, headwear, hat-making tools, lacework, embroidery, and related cultural artifacts from both East and West. More than a historical archive, the museum serves as the fertile foundation for his future cultural innovation, artistic collaboration, and revitalization of intangible heritage.
Rooted in this profound accumulation, Jeffrey initiated the global “101 Series” Hat Culture Project, inspired by Eastern philosophy. In his interpretation, 99 remains incomplete, while 100 feels too absolute; 101 symbolizes transcendence beyond perfection, continuous rebirth, and endless creation. It represents one of his major cultural visions for the next ten to twenty years — not a single project, but a multidimensional and globally integrated cultural ecosystem for hats.
Today, the 101 Series has already evolved into an expansive and continuously growing system:
- Publishing 101 poems dedicated to hat culture, giving literary soul and poetic spirit to headwear;
- Compiling 101 Hats, a volume featuring original works by 69 leading designers from around the world, preserving the highest achievements of contemporary hat design;
- Inviting 101 international artists to create cross-disciplinary collaborations, transforming hats into vehicles of contemporary artistic expression;
- Bringing together 101 masters of intangible cultural heritage to integrate traditional crafts such as lacquer art, mother-of-pearl inlay, bamboo weaving, and wood carving into modern millinery, breathing new life into ancient craftsmanship.
At the same time, Jeffrey continues expanding new branches of the 101 cultural system:
- Researching and documenting 101 classic straw-hat weaving patterns, preserving global handwoven techniques and the aesthetics of nature;
- Conducting interviews with 101 distinguished figures from around the world, recording their reflections on hats, etiquette, aesthetics, and the civilization of dress;
- Writing and documenting the stories of 101 influential figures in the global hat industry, paying tribute to those who have devoted their lives to the inheritance, innovation, and dissemination of hat culture.
Jeffrey has also expressed his hope to collaborate with 101 hat entrepreneurs worldwide, integrating global resources to respond rapidly to industry needs and empower the future development of the international hat industry.
From literature, design, contemporary art, intangible heritage, and traditional patterns to celebrity perspectives and historical documentation, the entire 101 framework seeks to build perhaps the most comprehensive cultural system ever created for the world of hats.
Beyond cultural projects, Jeffrey also founded the “920 China Hat Festival,” striving to create a global platform for exchange, collaboration, and co-creation within the hat industry. Looking ahead, he plans to establish a World Hat Industry Public Welfare Foundation to support emerging talent, encourage artistic innovation, promote cultural inheritance, and foster a healthy, sustainable, and forward-looking global industry ecosystem.
At the same time, Jeffrey is planning a dedicated museum for embroidery and lace, further contributing to the preservation and study of world textile and fashion culture.
More than a decade ago, Jeffrey founded Hatters’ Hub, hoping to introduce and promote outstanding international hat brands to China while building a broader platform for global hat culture exchange. During the same period, he also established Chicmax and later acquired Keyone, aspiring to bring distinctive design language and original style into the world of millinery, adding new creative energy and unique aesthetic character to the global hat industry.
On April 4th last year, Roger Tredre, the course leader of Fashion Communication of Central St. Martins, wrote this during his visit to the Hat Museum:
“Here in Nantong, a big surprise, unexpected, unanticipated. A world class museum, on a wonderful subject beloved of all fashion people. Hats, in all manifestation. A journey through the extreme of human creativity. A journey and a pleasure.”
This gave Jeffrey a lot of new ideas. He is considering establishing hat design schools to cultivate talent for the headwear industry. He hopes all peers in the global hat industry can empower one another and make the world a better place together.
Along the way, Jeffrey often speaks with gratitude about those who supported and inspired him — internationally renowned milliner Stephen Jones, overseas friend Damien Ducobu, the former editor in chief of The Hat Magazine, Carol Denford, Elly Stemerdink, the current editor in chief, the colleagues of the FOREMOST team, and especially CEO Fanny, whose leadership and operational strength continue to support the company’s long-term industrial foundation. Together, they ensure that cultural ideals are sustained not only by passion, but by enduring enterprise.
For Jeffrey, the past is accumulation; the future, a new chapter. He will continue refining and expanding the entire 101 cultural matrix, further exploring hat aesthetics, preserving intangible craftsmanship, connecting global artistic communities, and documenting the human stories of the industry.
Through culture empowering industry and creativity shaping the future, he seeks to foster a living dialogue between Eastern and Western hat artistry — continuously bringing profound, enduring, and vibrant Eastern cultural energy into the global hat world, and leaving behind a complete, systematic, and sustainable cultural legacy for future generations.
This article was originally published by Hat Magazine.
