THE RAD HATTER

IT WAS A CHANCE encounter with a Venice Beach cowboy that pulled Nick Fouquet into the world of hatmaking. Inquiring about the stranger’s chapeau, Fouquet learned that the wearer had made it himself. “It was different. I could tell that it had a soul,” he recalls. “It’s hard to describe the feeling, but I was like, a real hat.’ ” Enamored, Fouquet delved into men’s millinery, teaching himself the craft and forging his