In a comment on our recent video covering suit alterations, a reader complimented my questioning of Davide - saying I was putting the questions the viewer was thinking. 

I was really chuffed at that. As someone who spent most of their professional career interviewing and training others to do so, I want to make these interactions as focused as any written piece of journalism. 

It’s not enough to just point a camera at someone interesting and let them talk. You need to question and clarify - basically, edit as you go along. 

I hope something similar comes across from this talk with Graham Thompson, founder of Optimo hats. 

The aim is not merely to get Graham up there, but to use this as a way to define what makes a good hat. 

What are the available materials, and are there grades within them? What difference do the various processes make? What advantages or disadvantages does a person have, doing the same job as a machine?

We cover all of these in half an hour, as well the perhaps surprising fact that hat consumption began to decline in 1913, according to Graham. 

You can read more about Optimo, and why it makes some of the best hats in the world, here. 

Then there’s my visit to the factory in Chicago, here. 

And my review of my own personal hat here. 

Hopefully pretty comprehensive, as well as focused, coverage. 

Thanks to Itch Media for the filming, and all the Optimo friends and customers that came along to our talk on Savile Row.