Rihanna and Billy Eilish are fans. The bucket hat, utilitarian star of ’80s cool and the ’90s rave era, then picked up by Prada, is trendy again. How to wear the look

The bucket hat was designed for farmers and fishermen, co-opted by rappers and ravers, fell out of fashion, then roared back thanks to a raft of celebrities

Luxury fashion houses Prada, Gucci, Dior, Fendi and Hermès, as well as fast-fashion giants H&M and Zara, offer bucket hats. How long will they stay on trend?

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Rihanna wearing a bucket hat in New York in 2021. All the rage with ‘80s rappers and ravers, the hat fell out of fashion until the past decade, when a new generation of celebrities embraced it. Photo: GC Images

Published: 5:15pm, 10 Oct 2022Updated: 9:25am, 11 Oct 2022

Walk down the street in any major city today and chances are it won’t be long before you come across someone wearing a bucket hat – a simple, typically cloth headpiece with a downward sloping brim that, until a few years ago, was largely viewed as a relic of the ’90s rave era.

Perceptions of the hat suddenly shifted in the late 2010s, when superstars including Rihanna, Haylie Bieber, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish started wearing them in public. Actor Jonah Hill, who has become a trendsetter among streetwear fans, is a long-time fan of the bucket hat.

Since then, the bucket hat has experienced a revival, and is now commonly flaunted by influencers on social media. One was even worn by the frontman of Kalush – the Ukrainian group that won this year’s Eurovision song contest.

Virtually all fashion labels – from fast-fashion brands such as H&M and Zara to luxury labels such as Isabel Marant, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli and even Hermès – now sell a rendition of the hat, with prices ranging from less than US$10 to hundreds of dollars apiece.

Billie Eilish wearing a bucket hat at the premiere of her music documentary, The World’s A Little Blurry (2021). Photo: Getty Images

The bucket hat has found its way into the collections of luxury houses at the pinnacle of high fashion, such as Gucci, Dior and Fendi. Prada was the first major label to give the hat its seal of approval by featuring it in its catwalk shows, and has been a proponent of the style for many years.