Inspired by the hat made by Baron Hats and worn by Viggo Mortensen
 in “Hidalgo”

When Baron Hats was asked to create the hat Viggo Mortensen wears for his starring role in the Touchstone Pictures instant classic motion picture, “Hidalgo”, we knew we had a tall order. First of all, the hat had to be a character onto itself. It had to be something very special and very original, and secondly, we were dealing with one of the greatest costume designers in the business, the legendary Jeffrey Kurland, who has an eye for amazing detail. We’ve had the honor of working with him many times before, and he always challenges and inspires us! This hat had to invoke both realism and heroism of the main character of Frank Hopkins, who had a strong sense of humanity and an almost visionary political morality. 

So the hat had to have a sense of subtle functionality, and yet express both his humility and strength. The film is based on a true story… a race held yearly for centuries. It was known as the “Ocean of Fire”, which was a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert. At the time, the race was restricted to only the finest Arabian horses ever bred, and exclusively owned by the royal families. However that all changed, when, in 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American cowboy,  Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse, to enter the race for the first time. For Frank, the “Ocean of Fire” becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his steadfast principals, and for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible. We created a very unique design, using inspiration from the real Frank Hopkins’ own vast life experiences, such as a being a solider, a Pony Express rider, and a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show! 

We call our hat, the “Dune Rider”, and it is shaped with the original blocks in our dramatically slanted “Mesa Tip” Tear Drop Crown. It is then enhanced with our “harmattan” hand-shaped brim, then finished with our special hand-woven soft-leather cowhide hatband with the “Pony Express” tail at the back. Our “Dune Rider” is dyed the same special “Sahara” sand-tan as the original, using our exclusive raboteux method, to give it the “rode hard and put up wet” look. However, if you want to have it aged even more (as you see in the photos from the movie), we can do that with our special aging process for an additional charge. The hat also comes with a specially design suede sweatband, hand stitched, which was created just for this hat to handle the extra heavy brow sweat one would conjure up from long hot days in the desert! 

 The “Dune Rider” is like the character itself. It straddles both sides of time… expressing a strong sense of a historical past of brave individualism, yet seems uniquely contemporary, making a statement of one’s own sense  of courage and strength in a world that seems to have forgotten both.