How did you start making hats?
I was taking this class at Parsons, and one night I ended up giving myself a really bad haircut and then had to shave it all off. It was December so I started making hats that looked like hair. I was walking around Soho one day and these stores were interested in buying my collection. I didn't have a collection, so I made the same hat in different colors.

What was your inspiration for Eek!?
I went for the 1920s flapper style because I feel like a lot of Urban Outfitters' designs are pulled from vintage. I was reading love letters between Zelda Fitzgerald and F.Scott Fitzgerald, and girls went all out [in that era]. Zelda is similar to the Urban Outfitters model because the girl has this freedom that she can just throw on accessories, and she's 22, and she's in New York. Zelda was 19 when she moved to New York and then she went all out and she went crazy—you know, in the 1920s, it was a much bigger deal. She stayed out all night and wore short dresses and showed her knees. Zelda told F. Scott, "I've kissed 1,000 men and I plan to kiss 1,000 more." That's the energy that you have in your 20s.

What's your favorite hat?
Well, right now, we just found this very Yohji Yamamoto-esque hat from the 1920s. The beauty of hats is that they're so whimsical, so every moment you can have a different favorite hat. I can love a hat, and then by the end of the day I'm over it.

Did you adapt Eek! from your regular collection?
I have actually developed a lot of styles for Urban. There's this little cocktail hat but it's attached by a barrette, which is cool because it makes it very casual, but it's sequin and it has feathers and really crazy. It also has ruching and sequin lace.

What are some of the most famous hat moments in history?
There are so many great hat moments. JFK's head would swell up because he had this weird disease, and so he stopped all men from the 1960s on from wearing hats because of his condition. Which is fine...

Is it still proper to have a daytime hat and a hat for night?
I feel like that's old school. There are certain pieces of the Urban Outfitters collection, like the black sequin cocktail hat, that you can throw on and wear it to work. I like just wearing those kinds of things during the day, while going to the deli or you're picking up your dry cleaning, influences your life with this certain kind of specialness because people react to you differently.

Who are some of your favorite hat-wearers?
J.Lo, and I love J.Lo! She was actually my first celebrity customer, and she wears a hat well. She wears the hat like a diva. You don't have to be a diva to wear a hat. Then there's someone like Isabella Blow, who wore hats amazingly and it was so inspirational on a certain level because you knew not everyone could pull it off that way. I like people like Kirsten Dunst and Drew Barrymore, who just combine their childhood messy look, which is inspiring. Drew Barrymore is one of my favorite people in the world, because she is a happy, fun-loving girl and she's kind of casual. Even Sienna Miller, I feel like she's a really good hat wearer. She's always throwing things on, everything including the garbage can, and she pulls it off pretty well.