Fur Hats Don’t Go With Anything. And That's the Point
Once a statement curio, big ol' fur hats have recently become as omnipresent as, well, fur coats.
The original fur hats called trapper hats, were once worn by hunters to fend off harsh winters.
But these large fur hats seen at Paris Fashion Week and on the streets of New York have nothing to do with the outdoors at all. Instead of utility, the modern fur hat is all about absurdity.
Much less about hunting — though fur hats with earflaps are still sometimes called “trapper hats” — and much more to do with embracing the ridiculous and A$AP Rocky's outsized influence on style at large.
Obviously, Rocky's not the sole reason that the fur hat is popular but he certainly helped in maybe the least seasonally appropriate way possible.
Back in 2022, A$AP Rocky and fashion killa paramour Rihanna disrupted everything I thought I knew about summer fashion. In the music video for Rocky's "D.M.B.," they rocked full-on furs — on their head, mind you — despite shooting the clip on the cusp of summer.
Almost more than the music, Rocky's lime neon Louis Vuitton trapper hat was the main event. It was big. It was green. And it was just so, so good. It was also incredibly out of season. But that's the thing about fur hats: They exist to upset the rules.
Now, my TikTok FYP is flooded with people rocking trapper hats just about everywhere. They were omnipresent at fashion week and were memorably worn by certified fur-hat enjoyer Rihanna, who rocked a fur topper for a late-night shopping trip in December, and Alex Consani, who walked Dsquared2's Fall 2025 runway show clad in a fur topper.
Even Polo Ralph Lauren, the brand that did quiet luxury before quiet luxury was a thing, included a hairy trapper in its otherwise prep-luxe Fall/Winter 2025 collection.
Even though this fur hat exudes gaudy goodness, it was offset by Polo's refined looks, a testament to its power as an uncategorizable statement piece.
A generation ago, floor-length fur coats were the biggest flex in winter fashion. But growing consciousness about fur’s questionable ethics altered the public perception of these coats.
This positions modern trapper caps, often made of synthetic fibers, as a less concerning statement alternative. On a practical level, flappy fur hats can do what long minks simply can't.
