Genuine interest in our customers, and the community embodies who we are as a brand. Our mission is to bring a sense of style and pride to the Phoenix Valley and beyond while providing the best shopping experience and variety of quality headwear and accessories to our customers. While also supporting the community through various philanthropic efforts, from fundraising to direct donations. For more information visit www.strawandwool.com
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Spring is here and that means you must look stylish for all the events happening around the valley.
00:06 And here to help us is the team from Straw and Wool, a local black-owned business.
00:10 Henry and Ali, and I'll tell you right now, you guys can make anybody look amazing in a hat.
00:16 Seriously, am I right?
00:18 I would say, I would say you already look amazing in a hat, just accentuation.
00:21 But the thing I love about you guys is that you guys literally have people come in and you look at them and go,
00:27 "That hat's not for you. That's not the right one, but this one could be."
00:31 And then you elevate the game, too, which I love.
00:33 Yes. It's a lot of fun.
00:35 And usually it happens organically, right?
00:38 We're just there to be a sounding board and to give feedback, but we like to say the hat picks the person.
00:44 Yeah. And then you have the different styles. How many different styles now do you guys have?
00:48 Because when I first went down to your place, I think there was only 10 hats. No, just kidding.
00:52 I started small.
00:54 So, what do you think?
00:56 I would guess probably about 200.
00:59 Just on our shelves alone, not to include what we have that we haven't released yet.
01:03 So, probably close to 200.
01:04 And when you talk about releasing, it's these type of hats right here I have to show.
01:08 And I'm going to pick this one up and make sure I don't mess it up because it's a very expensive hat.
01:12 But this is what we talk about.
01:13 You guys have someone who accessorizes or you guys help design some of these hats up, don't you?
01:17 Yeah. We actually commission artists to make these for us.
01:20 This is our one oak collection, which means one of a kind.
01:23 And in most cases, we just allow them to do their thing unless we're going for a specific thing.
01:27 But, yeah, those artists are really creative.
01:29 All right. Let's talk about hats and let's talk about styling the hats and what you need to wear for the different occasions going on.
01:36 So, I noticed the smaller hats down there, small brim. What is that one called?
01:39 So, this is a Panama hat.
01:40 I mean, most of them are fedoras, but you got different styles.
01:44 You got wide brim, you got short brim.
01:46 So, this is a shorter brim Panama straw fedora.
01:49 OK. And that's mostly for the guys that kind of like want to have that kind of Cuban kind of look in a way?
01:55 You could say that. Yeah, it's more of casual, as you can see.
01:58 But it's a really fine weave, a really high quality straw.
02:02 So, it's a great everyday styles hat, but you can also dress it up.
02:06 Yeah. All right. And then down here, this one right here, this is the one I kind of like see most guys are wearing out to like the, you know, the Kentucky Derby and the different things like that.
02:14 Yeah. That one is called Darcher May.
02:16 It's one of our more popular hats for the spring and summer because it has the vented crown, the nice, clean, flat brim.
02:23 And it's something that you can wear with everything. It dresses up well. It dresses down as well as well.
02:27 And what I've been noticing, too, is that the brims have been getting a little bit bigger and a little bit more stylish in a way.
02:32 Why is that? I think that's just a style.
02:35 You know, people like the attention. People like the look.
02:39 But there's also a function to it as well, getting the sun off of you.
02:43 So, you know, we call it big brim energy.
02:46 Yeah. We have to talk about, again, you guys blew up when you guys got to do a very important commercial that came about and that was finding small businesses to highlight.
02:56 And so how was that?
02:57 It was amazing. It was amazing.
02:59 We got selected by ESPN to have a commercial filmed and ran during the NBA finals last year.
03:06 And it ran every night during the finals.
03:08 We had no idea. We thought it was going to be a one-stop thing.
03:10 We missed it. But we look up and we've got a bunch of people hitting us up again.
03:14 So that was amazing. That gave us a great look nationwide to the point where we're expanding at this point.
03:19 To the point where literally I think every artist that comes into Phoenix comes to your guys' shop.
03:26 I mean, we've seen a lot of comedians to performers, R&B artists, everything come and find you because you guys have the styles there to help out to highlight their stage presence, don't you?
03:37 Yeah, we try. And it's a fun thing because who doesn't like hats?
03:42 And it's great. It's one of the few things where you've got to come in, you've got to try it on.
03:47 It's fun to try different looks, different styles, and like you said, get feedback, add accessories, feathers, and things like that to it.
03:54 So yeah, it's a great time.
03:55 I like it. Okay, do you have one that I should try and which one do you think, what do you feel for me today?
03:59 Well, which one don't you have already?
04:01 All of them actually.
04:03 All of them actually. My strong hat got destroyed, but no, which one do you think is going to work for me?
04:09 So I would say this is a good one right here, and it's actually a sneak peek on one that we're working on for the summer, so it's not out yet.
04:16 Oh, it's not?
04:17 It might be a little big, but I think that'll be a good look for you right there.
04:20 Actually, is that too big? That's the thing, is that supposed to be fitting that way or how's it supposed to fit?
04:24 That was probably a little too big for your head, but you make it look good.
04:27 So good, that means I don't have a big head.
04:29 Not at all.
04:31 But I can pull off this one because this is nice. Is that what you want, you want it snug on there or do you want it loose on there?
04:36 I like to tell people you want it loose enough so that a gust of wind can't take it off, but not so tight to where you get a headache after a half hour.
04:43 There it is, I like it. Let them know where Strongwool is located.
04:47 Yep, we're downtown on Roosevelt Road. Our address is 610 East Roosevelt, Suite 144, right across the streets of Roosevelt and 7th Street. Can't miss us.
04:56 There you go.
04:57 Online at strongwool.com.
04:58 And you gotta go get one of their boxes to take care of your hats and again, if you need hats taken care of, these guys got you.
05:04 So, alright, coming up, we're telling you, of course, how you can catch the college basketball action right here on the CW7.
05:12 Thank you.
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