'Pussy Hat' makes fashion protest statement

By

Susan Spies

Published
Jan 23, 2017

The Women's March on Washington DC held Saturday was striking for the immense and unexpected turnout but also for the sea of pink hats worn by the protesters. The pink headwear was the brainchild of two novice knitters in California that snowballed into a nation-wide, even international movement.

Dubbed the Pussy Hat Project and started in late November, project creators Jayna Zweiman and Krista Suh wanted to find a visual response to controversial comments made by President Donald Trump in a tape that surfaced before the U.S. election last November.

“We were imagining this sea of pink hats making a really large statement,” Zweiman told Fast Company magazine. “So, there was a big goal. I think having that visual creates an impetus for people to really get involved.”

They consulted with L.A. knit store owner Cat Coyle to devise a pattern that was easy to reproduce and could involve a lot of makers, the goal being to “have every marcher wear a pink hat,” as the project’s website states.

They came very close. The streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday were seas of pink hats, from pastels to neons, spilling into reds, oranges and patterned variations. The hats were knitted by people all over the U.S. and even from abroad. Besides the hats themselves, the knitters were asked to send personal notes to the protester recipients about what they hoped the march would achieve.

While the basic pattern is a simple envelope that peaks into two cat ears on top at each end, project knitters quickly began to add their own design elements, such as complicated patterns, textures, color mixes and varying yarn types.

The look made quite a few fashion ripples, even becoming the headwear of choice for some of the celebrities attending Saturday’s march. Madonna took to the stage wearing a chic, black version of the classic pink hat. Jessica Chastain mingled with marchers, wearing a more classic pink-orange variation. One wonders just how long it will be before a pussy hat is spotted on the catwalk, or at the very least, on the streets of international fashion capitals.