It’s not unusual for fashion and art to collide, but Brian Downey’s creations are anything but ordinary: The 36-year-old pro skater and West Palm Beach–based artist creates hats out of abnormal mediums like pizza, a goldfish bag, or a bowl of noodle soup.
“I started making everyday fabric hats around 10 years ago,” he shares. “As time went on, I experimented with vintage fabrics and recycled items. That led into trying totally unconventional materials to create hats, playing with a lot of food concepts and nostalgic items from growing up in the ’90s and early 2000s.”
A decade working in film, photo, and fashion production taught Downey techniques like sewing, woodworking, painting, mold-making, sculpture, metalwork, cooking, and upholstery, all of which he uses in his label, FalconBowse. “I started playing with weirder and weirder materials for hats, and as they kept getting viral reactions on social media, I wanted to explore the concept further,” he says. “It’s been a really fun rabbit hole to fall down.”
In addition to a few prominent private collections, Downey’s hats have been shown at JL Modern Gallery on Worth Avenue and displayed at the Norton Museum of Art gift shop. He hopes to sell or show in more local shops and galleries and, one day, open a FalconBowse store—in a hat-shaped building, of course.
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