In 1662, as more and more buildings begin to pop up on both sides of the dirt track that leads from St James's Palace, a street is paved and from these humble beginnings, St James's Street is born.
Even today, ambassadors are accredited to the Court of St James, not Buckingham Palace, reflecting its central place in established London Society.
During the reign of Charles II, thrift gives way to refinement, and in 1676 the milliner Robert Davis opens a shop in St James's Street to cater for the fashionable upper classes - the home of hats begins to trade. Customers include the great Whig families of Marlborough, Bedford, Devonshire, and Walpole.
In 1686, the tantalising tastes and aromas of distant lands are brought to a corner of London when merchant George Lock imports coffee, chocolate, and tobacco through his shops in St James's Street. No. 6 is established as a coffee house.
It’s intriguing to think that some of the paint on our front door probably goes back even earlier than coffee house times!
In 1747, James Lock, grandson of George Lock, who opened No. 6 St James's Street as a coffee house in 1686, becomes a hatter's apprentice to Charles Davis. Charles is the son of Robert Davis, the milliner who opened a hat shop in St James's Street in 1676.
The Lock and Davis family trees intertwine in 1759 when James Lock - grandson of George Lock, who opened No. 6 St James's Street in 1686 - marries Mary Davis, daughter of Robert Davis, the milliner who opened a hat shop in St James's Street in 1676. James Lock is given the keys to his former master's hat shop.
In 1765, James and Mary Lock, along with their four children and workers, move across the street to No. 6 St James’s Street and establish what is today the oldest hat shop in the world.
In 1781, Lords and leading figures make Lock & Co. their hatter of choice, including Lord Grenville, Prime Minister between 1806 and 1807, the first in a long line of prominent patrons. Another first in this year is the transatlantic order from a Mr Mallet in New York, who requests a "fine beaver hat", laying the foundation for the company's international trade and reputation.
In 1784, the hat tax was introduced in Britain. All hat shops had to obtain a licence, which cost two pounds in London and five shillings outside London. The amount of the hat tax was based on the price of the hat. The tax was abolished in 1811.
The year is 1795 and the French Revolution is raging across the Channel, but Britain is experiencing its own revolt after the introduction of the Hair Powder Tax introduced as a direct result of the financial strains caused by the French Revolution (which later resulted in the Napoleonic Wars). The 5th Duke
of Bedford rebels against the powdered, tied-back style of the day and introduces the 'Bedford Crop', a short cut parted to the side with wax. James Lock designs a plain, round hat that becomes increasingly popular as more men adopt the new hairstyle.
In 1797, in an effort to make hats ever more luxurious, hatmaker John Hetherington invented a fine silk shag known as 'hatters plush'. The shimmering, soft material is used for top hats, which over time become de rigueur among the English aristocracy.
In 1800, Admiral Lord Nelson visits Lock & Co. for the first time to order a "cocked hat and cockade 7 1/8th full" - his signature bicorne complete with eyeshade. He returns in subsequent years to order two more. His last visit is recorded in September 1805, when he settles his account before sailing for Spain. He would never return, losing his life in the Battle of Trafalgar.
In 1806, James Lock dies and his illegitimate son, George James Lock, also known as James Lock II, inherits the business.
Incidentally, this image was created by Ronald Searle immediately after the Second World War, and he then went on to become famous after that.
In the early nineteenth century, the fashionable continue to flock to Lock & Co. and in 1808, dandy of the day, Beau Brummell, purchases two round hats.
In 1821, the ownership of Lock & Co. passes from James Lock II to his son, James Lock III, who takes over the business with his younger brother, George.
The year is 1849 and nobleman Edward Coke commissions Lock & Co. to design a hat for his gamekeepers. Locks, in turn, commissions one of their most reliable suppliers, Thomas Bowler & Son, to make it. The result is the now iconic Coke hat or Bowler hat.
The fashion having changed to the wearing of much harder hats – top hats, and Coke hats – it became very important to fit them to the actual shape of a customer’s head, precision and personalisation entered the world of millinery when Allié-Maillard invented the conformateur in France, a device for measuring the head. The device allows the hatter to measure the size and shape of a person's head so that a custom-made hat fits perfectly on the head. Lock & Co. still uses a conformateur to fit hard hats.
In 1861, as a mark of mourning for the death of Prince Albert, gentlemen wear a black band on their hats. It eventually loses its association with the funeral and becomes a fashion statement.
“You can draw water out of a water-well," said the Hatter; "so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well - eh, stupid?" (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). In 1865, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name, Lewis Carroll. Some claim that James Benning, the shop manager of James Lock III, inspired Sir John Tenniel’s famous illustration of the memorable character of the Mad Hatter., as seen above.
In 1871, James Lock III was seventy years old and single. To secure the family business after his death, he had already invited his sister's son, Charles Whitbourn, to join the business. However, he also recognised that his shop manager, James Benning, had good business sense and in 1871 he formed a partnership between 'Charley' Whitbourn and James Benning and handed the business over to them. James Lock III then married (for the first time) and had a daughter two years later. He died in 1876 leaving the business secure and his family well provided for.
In 1882, Lock & Co. sold a black fedora to the flamboyantly dressed and witty writer, Oscar Wilde. He wore the hat on his lecture tour of the United States. Later in life, Wilde was unable to pay his final hat bill due to his incarceration in Pentonville and Wandsworth prisons. Following an article in The Times in 2000, one of Wilde's loyal followers sends a letter to Lock & Co. enclosing a cheque for £3.30 to settle his account over 100 years later.
During a visit to inspect the construction of the Panama Canal in Ecuador in 1906, US President Theodore Roosevelt is photographed wearing a Panama hat. Panama mania begins and this sartorial summer staple is as popular as ever today.
Sir Winston Churchill, as famous for his personal style as for his politics, wears a silk top hat by Lock & Co. on his wedding day to Clementine Hozier in 1908. He returns to Lock & Co. in 1911 to order his trademark Cambridge and Homburg hats, as well as a white yachting cap bearing the insignia of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Following the revolutionary 'Mark 1' tin helmet developed and patented by John Leopold Brodie in 1915, Brodie helmets become the regulation headwear of First World War soldiers and officers in 1916. Due to the helmet's steel construction and bulky leather interior, soldiers are fitted out at Lock & Co. before travelling overseas.
In 1922, Scott & Co. Hatters of Piccadilly, known for their innovative and pioneering styles, introduce 'snap brim' felt. The style quickly catches on and supersedes the Homburg until Anthony Eden brings it back into fashion in the 1930s. Many years later, Scott and Co. were bought by Locks.
It’s 1932, the golden age of Hollywood, and Lock & Co. welcomes its most glamorous customer to date, film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior, who moves in above No. 6. An auction of his estate in 2011 included Lock & Co. monogrammed hats.
The year is 1940 and in the midst of the Second World War, a bomb drops on No. 6 St James's Street and lands in the basement of Lock & Co. Luckily it does not explode! You can still see the hole where it landed in the basement today.
During the 1950s, stars of the silver screen continue to seek the specialist services of Lock & Co., including Charlie Chaplin, who first comes to Lock & Co. in 1952 to have his head measured with the conformateur. A thank you letter for Lock & Co.'s services is received from Chaplin in 1962.
Lock & Co. had long topped the heads of British statesmen, but never the Head of State until Queen Elizabeth II. In conjunction with crown jewellers Garrard and Co, Lock & Co. designs the fitments for the coronation crown, worn on 2nd June, 1953, and seen that day by over 20 million people worldwide.
In 1956, Lock & Co. is given the royal seal of approval with a warrant for the Duke of Edinburgh.
Style setter and wife of President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, purchases the Quorn, a brown velvet riding hat, from Lock & Co. in 1960.
The Coke hat gets a starring role in the 1964 film, Goldfinger,courtesy of the Bond villain, Oddjob. The hat from the film sells for £62,000 at a Christie's auction in 1998.
Lock & Co. acquires Scott & Co. Hatters of Piccadilly after their 21-year lease expires and they cannot afford the new terms offered. Scott’s hats and their customers move to their new home at 6 St. James’s Street.
In 1971, Lock & Co. Hatters features in a book. One hundred years after Charley Whitbourn became a partner in the business, his great-nephew Frank Whitbourn, a descendant of James Lock, publishes Mr Lock of St James's Street with illustrations by renowned artist, Ronald Searle.
In 1993, Lock & Co. enters the world of haute millinery under the expertise of Sylvia Fletcher. In the same year, the business receives its second royal warrant from the Prince of Wales.
In 1999, the Coke hat celebrated its 150th anniversary. Lock & Co. invited 17 celebrity customers to each submit a design for a customised Coke hat. Peter O'Toole, Vivienne Westwood, Jimmy Choo, Nigella Lawson, and Joan Rivers contributed designs.
In addition to its timeless classic styles, Lock & Co. launches a more contemporary 'Lock & Roll' collection of tweed caps and hats in 2010, the result of a collaboration with the urban Japanese brand, Bathing Ape.
The year is 2012 and London is hosting the Olympic Games. Lock & Co. designs again for Lord Nelson, this time a hat for Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square as part of the London Hatwalk. The hat features a full-size Olympic torch and, due to popular demand, was displayed on Nelson’s Column for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In 2014, acclaimed fashion designer Vivienne Westwood collaborates with Lock & Co. to produce four felt hats and hat boxes for her autumn/winter 2013 campaign 'Vivienne Loves'.
In 2014, Lock & Co. completes an archival project and sees its ledgers rehomed to the London Metropolitan Archive where the general public can view them.
The year is 2014 and Lock & Co. is literally opening its doors for the film Kingsman. Samuel L. Jackson is filmed leaving the shop wearing a Lock & Co. silk top hat.
In 2015, Lock & Co. partners with Mr Porter on a bespoke collection of wool flat caps for the release of the Kingsman movie, available exclusively at mrporter.com. Elsewhere, French fashion designer Nicole Farhi collaborates with Lock & Co. to produce a Panama for her spring/summer 2015 men’s collection.
With so much history to tell, Lock & Co. opened a Heritage Room at No. 6 in 2015 to display historical artefacts that have been in the family since the business was founded.
In 2017, Lock & Co. teams up with the film Darkest Hour to be its official hatter, fitting Sir Gary Oldman for his career-defining portrayal of Winston Churchill. The film receives global accolades.
2018 is an important year for Lock & Co. as the company takes an important step towards becoming more sustainable. Working in conjunction with Escorial Wool and with global exclusivity, Lock & Co. produces its first range of natural and sustainable hats and caps for men and women.
In 2020, Awon Golding joins Lock & Co. as Head Millinery Designer and produces her debut collection for Lock Couture inspired by some of her greatest heroines such as Marlene Dietrich and Bianca Jagger.
With a combined 700 years of brand history, Lock & Co. teamed up with Vitale Barberis Canonico for an autumn/winter collection in 2020. Italy's oldest cloth manufacturer produces luxurious fabrics for a capsule collection of men's headwear that sells out in one season.
In 2021, Lock & Co. launched its first bridal collection, designed and created by Awon Golding. The stunning 8-piece collection is made to order.
In October 2022, Lock & Co. opened '60 Years of James Bond Hats', an exclusive exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of the film series. The exhibition featured hats from the six decades of 007 films - including several designs by Lock & Co. - and offered the opportunity to see original pieces of movie history from the 007 Archives, some of which had never been displayed before. Fans of fashion history, film history, and James Bond were able to see hats alongside supporting props and costumes worn by characters in the series. The exhibition was curated by EON Productions' Archive Director, Meg Simmonds.
In 2022, Lock & Co. was proud to present the 007 Hat Collection, officially establishing a long-standing relationship between the two iconic British brands. The collection, consisting of seven James-Bond-inspired hats, was launched across the year.
In 2024, Lock & Co. was granted a Royal Warrant of
Appointment to His Majesty King Charles III as hatters. Our family business is extremely proud to be able to continue to support and strive for the highest quality, sustainable craftsmanship.
