Our History

In 1878, Pio Serratelli came to the United States from Italy and opened the first Serratelli business in Newark, NJ. Back then, fedoras, bowlers, and homburgs were worn daily by fashionable men. Pio came to America knowing an ‘old country’ process to create high-quality fur felt – he built his business by providing these materials to hat manufacturers.

In the early 1900s, raw materials to create hats came by boat from Europe, so all hat manufacturers were located on the East Coast. Today, Serratelli is one of the few remaining companies in the world to use the ‘old country’ manufacturing process, a secret to our success. We start with the best materials to craft the best hats.

Hatmaking is more art than science. Making a western hat is labor intensive, requiring skilled craftsmen and women who have years of experience. That’s the way hats were made when Pio started his business, and we continue that tradition today.