Our Pallenberg Hat is named after Anita Pallenberg, an “it-girl” of the 1960s-70s who continued to be a fixture in the New York and London socialite scene throughout her lifetime, gracing many parties and events while wearing a hat.

Pallenberg was a model and actress, working in Germany, London, New York and Paris. She was born in Rome to a German mother and an Italian-French father. She spoke 4 languages by the time she was a teen. In 1965 Pallenberg became the girlfriend of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones before the Stones became famous. The two met while she was modeling in Munich and the Stones were on tour. But as the years went by, and Jones became reportedly abusive, Pallenberg found respite with Keith Richards, who she eventually had a 14 year relationship with.

Personally, I don’t usually romanticize the 1960s and 70s, and especially don’t glorify the excess and drug use; but from a fashion standpoint, Pallenberg was much more than an average “groupie” of the time. She had a career before she met the Stones, participated in theatre, and was very much a fashion icon until her death in 2017.

Throughout her lifetime, Pallenberg often wore ostentatious hats, and was almost never seen in public without one, so she most definitely deserves a Bagtazo hat named after her, and what better than one of our most subtly outrageous pieces.

Our Pallenberg is a modern take on a traditional western, with the early cowboy style sloped, pinched crown, but a super flat brim so you don’t feel like you’re in costume.

A lot of times, I assign a “working name” to our hats during the design process before I finalize the style names you see. This particular hat’s working name was the Vaquera, meaning cowgirl in Spanish. But the more I looked at it, the more I saw it as a good unisex hat that nodded to the fashion of the 60s and 70s. After explaining this vision to my friend Rose, an aficionado on all things 1960s/70s, she suggested Anita Pallenberg. And after reviewing her style over the years, I totally agreed.