Kangol Wool 504

Seventy-five years ago in a remote corner of Northwest England, Kangol was officially born. Founder Jacques Spreiregen created the name by combining the K from knitting, the ANG from angora, and the OL from wool. Kangol gained notoriety for providing berets to the British army in WWII, and later by outfitting the English Olympic Team in the 1948 opening ceremonies.

The 1950's saw the introduction of the original seamless cap named the '504' after the reference number of the wooden hat block from which it had been shaped. The 1960's saw Kangol's first association with popular musicians and designers by providing headwear to the likes of the Beatles, Mary Quant, Pierre Cardin and Arnold Palmer. In 1983, the Kangol kangaroo logo was established and almost overnight Kangol hats became ‘the’ fashion accessory taken up by stars including LL Cool J, Madonna, Liam Gallagher, Michael Jordan, and Grandmaster Flash, who has one of his Kangol hats in the Hip Hop Hall of Fame.

Today Kangol draws upon its rich heritage to define the product handwriting resulting in a creative fusion of British heritage from 1938 combined with its roots at the heart of the hip hop phenomenon of 1983, and mixing it with forward fashion to remain the most influential and famously recognised global headwear brand of all time.