Luton's hat industry still survives and remains the centre of the industry in the UK, employing around 1,000 workers in small and medium sized companies. It continues to face strong pressure from competitors overseas, especially from low-wage economies. Recent years have seen the closure of a number of long-established firms such as Bermona, and J Albert & Co. However, other companies have been more successful in adapting to the new economic realities. For example, Balfour Hats uses factories in China, Taiwan and the Philippines to produce their designs more cheaply than they could at their Luton base. These strategies allow the companies to reduce their costs to remain competitive while continuing to base themselves in Luton.

Luton's hat companies produce a wide range of items from specialist hats such as protective, hygiene and safety headgear, sportswear, mass market and traditional hats, such as the trilby, to high-quality haute couture hats. They are probably most successful when serving specialist markets: small firms make hats for special events such as Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot, or for television or film productions. Recently, for example, Walter Wright made the hats for the 2003 film Love Actually.

1999 was designated the Year of the Hat and to support it Margaret Moran, MP for Luton South, initiated a debate on the subject in the House of Commons on 15 July. In a speech full of hatting puns ("I doff my hat", "the feather in our cap", "to cap it all", "I take my hat off to", "I have a bee in my bonnet") she praised the industry's contribution to the town and argued for greater support for it.

Failsworth Hats, which was established in Failsworth, Manchester in 1903, became involved with the making of ladies' hats in Luton in 2001 when it took control of a business formerly run by Marida Ltd in Luton. It subsequently took control of businesses operated by S G Parker and Sons (Luton) Ltd, including those in Luton and a company in London trading as The Hat Studio. Failsworth Hats now make men's headwear in Failsworth and Leeds and ladies' hats in Luton. They also import hats manufactured abroad but designed in Luton.

In April 2004, Luton's Easter Hat Parade (formerly the Easter Bonnet Parade) was revived by the mayor, Cllr Michael Dolling, who wished to show that the hat industry was still an important part of the local economy. In its heyday in the 1950s the parade would attract more than 40,000 people. Although on a smaller scale in 2004, the event at Wardown Park included a fashion parade featuring more than 100 hats from local and national manufacturers, a hat design competition with more than 1000 designs submitted by local school and college students, hat workshops and a charity hat auction which raised more than £1000.

Celebrity endorsement is vital to the industry as it helps to make hat wearing fashionable. Luton's millinery and hat-making industry produces an annual list of top celebrity hat wearers. Here are the most recent winners in male and female categories

2006

Female		Male
1. Kate Moss		Robbie Williams
2. Princess Michael Of Kent		The Prince Of Wales
3. Joanna Lumley		David Beckham
4. Dawn French		Sir Sean Connery
5. Baroness Thatcher		Jonathan Ross

2005

Female		Male
1. Zara Phillips		Sir Elton John
2. The Duchess Of Cornwall		David Beckham
3.Victoria Beckham		Boy George
4. Princess Beatrice		Prince William
5. The Countess Of Wessex		The Duke Of Edinburgh

For more information on the list of celebrity hat wearers see the website of Luton First

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Last updated 16th April 2007

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