Stetson Europe

'Stetson' the hat brand traces to John B. Stetson, who founded his hat company in Philadelphia in 1865 after noticing that felted fabric similar to his tent material was waterproof. The original US company stopped manufacturing in 1970 and converted to a licensing model; American production of Stetson-branded hats is now handled separately by Hatco, Inc., which bought the manufacturing license in the 1980s and consolidated production at its Garland, Texas facility in 2004. In Europe, the Stetson name has been under license since 1998, when the German company FWS (Friedrich W. Schneider) became the brand's exclusive European distributor and shortly after its official licensee — an arrangement FWS still holds, operating the business as Stetson Europe. The European operation runs independently of Hatco's US manufacturing and produces its own range under the license, spanning traditional felt, straw, leather and panama hats, peaked and flat caps including the Hatteras line, baseball and trucker caps, and accessories such as belts and gloves. Because the European and American businesses are separately licensed, product ranges and styling can differ between the two despite sharing the Stetson name.