A Request for Kangol Hat labels

Pinkcoke

Pinkcoke

Alumni
Living in England I see a lot of vintage Kangol hats but I haven't a clue how old most of them are as their designs were often classic staples and the label seemed to change very little from the original design.
Do any of you have access to old labels / sold item pictures? It would be great if more examples could make it onto the Label resource.

thankyou, Melanie.
 
I had this velvet Kangol netted pillbox. I thought it was the same as one on the label resource, but I realise this says Made in England, rather than Made in The United Kingdom, which I think must place it earlier. Also it's the writing is brown not black. I had assumed this was 80s, but now I'm wondering. It was a true pill box shape.

If anyone would like to weigh in on the date of this hat, I can submit the label to the resource.

I did have another nice Kangol, but I sold it without photographing it.

Kangol hat1.jpg
Kangol hat2.jpg
Kangol hat3.jpg
Kangol hat4.jpg
 
Thanks Ruth that's a good example of how staple their designs were! is the little label I can't see a fabric content though? I have a very similar hat (not Kangol) with black feather plume attached that is 80's.
 
Yes, I'm curious about the little label attached to the Kangol too - these styles were popular in the early '80s so I think that's when it's probably from, but the information on the little label will help. Maybe it's a '70s nostalgia revival hat? I doubt it's any earlier than that.

A lot of people assume Kangol is an Australian company, and the kangaroo on the label doesn't help. It's great to find out where they got their name from at last. They've only recently started selling to Australia.
 
They were most prominent in the 50's I believe. There are lots of lovely ads around.
Your label might say England rather than UK Ruth as lots of british companies have downsized in the last 50 years and closed factories around the UK as we import so much now. Alternatively if they expanded or started making them abroad (within the kingdom as it were) the label names could have gone the other way.

I've only ever seen the Kangaroo on their sportswear ranges - maybe they thought they needed a motif, as most sportswear labels have. (cockrell, crocodile etc.)
 
It's much more likely that Made In England is earlier than Made in the United Kingdom. Deborah's earlier hats all say Made in England, so I expect they changed it at some point, perhaps in the 80s. I've don't think I've seen Made in the United Kingdom on labels of any kind before 1970, and I know for certain that Marks & Spencer labels changed from Made In Britain to Made in the UK, during the 1970s. Made in the UK/United Kingdom is a later term for labels in general.
 
I'm crazy about the lilac one, that you posted above, Deborah.
It was in my faves! Those sell well, don't they? Yes!
Click to expand...

:) Thanks, Julie. I was partial to that one, as well. It's in Australia now. I have done well with them. My daughter-in-law
grabs the black and/or white ones when they come in. I think I can safely call her a Kangol junkie.

Your hat is lovely, Ruth. Aside, from yours having a content tag, the only real difference I see is how the labels are stitched in.
 
Hi,

Back when I managed a hat shop in the early 1990's, these same hats were coming in to be sold, mostly to the old lady customers, and to me the styles did not change too much from the 70s to the 90's, although there are subtle differences. I can't tell the newer ones from the older ones (post 1970) by looking at a label, so I am no help at all there. Except I can say that 1960s Kangols I have come across over the years had different labels than any shown here in this thread thus far. I never paid much attention to these, and gave away all I had 12 years ago. Now they are hot...too funny!
 
Except I can say that 1960s Kangols I have come across over the years had different labels than any shown here in this thread thus far.
Click to expand...

What did the labels look like, Barbara? Sounds as if they may have had several types of labels going before they decided to stick with the ones shown here. Fortunately, one of my hats had a second label from the store where it sold making it easier to pinpoint the date to 60s.
 
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