Parra Blocked P 6 Panel Hat Navy Blue

Parra Blocked P 6 Panel Hat Navy Blue: the P cut into a block, the name reading right inside it

Read the P from top to bottom: the brand name is hiding inside. A big black P, cut like a block, whose bowl holds a white A and whose stem drops an R, an R, an A in a vertical stack. The word rebuilds itself as you move through the shape, like a sign you decipher in two steps. This is Parra's Blocked P, embroidered on the front of the cap, deep black on faded blue, with raised white letters. It carries the logic of the Amsterdam label built around Piet Parra's graphic work: a logo that plays with how you read it, typography that prefers architecture to a simple monogram. Silhouette-wise, it's the skate polo hat, low, soft, with no frame, the kind you wear pulled down to your eyebrows or pushed up on the forehead.

The body of the hat is flat cotton twill, unconstructed, with a heavy-washed finish that gives it a mottled navy blue, slightly faded in spots, like a piece that's already been worn. The visor, the top button and the crown aren't the same blue: the visor and button lean toward a darker petrol blue, while the crown stays in a lighter faded navy. The embroidered eyelets and the visible stitching are a light bluish grey, outlining the six panels and the seams against the dark ground. The six-panel polo fit sits low on the head, the visor can be curved by hand, and the closure is a self-fabric strap with a brass metal buckle. Made in California, United States.

An unconstructed hat gets worn every day and adapts to your head instead of forcing it: the crown has no reinforcement, so it dips, folds and takes the shape of your skull within a few weeks. Cotton twill is a workwear fabric, dense, built to take spot dust and backpack friction. The heavy wash does its job too: the hat is softened from day one, with no stiffness to break in, and the mottling hides small marks. The fabric strap adjusts to the size you want, without pressure on the neck, and the brass stays discreet against the cotton. A hat you put on without thinking that ages well.