'It's like artfully dishevelled hair' - Cillian Murphy sparks fedora frenzy, outshining his Peaky Blinders flat cap

Move over flat caps, it's now the era of fedoras, thanks to Mr. Thomas Shelby himself. From being the force behind the soaring sales of flat caps – courtesy of his Peaky Blinders alter-ego Tommy Shelby – Cillian Murphy is now giving us a new fashion sensation: the Fedora.

According to retailers, the interest in fedoras has ramped up, reflecting in their sales. This is attributed to Murphy's engagement with a Fedora in his latest movie, Oppenheimer. John Lewis even reports a 21% spike in Fedora over flat cap sales. Not to be left behind, speciality hat makers, Herbert Johnson, express the rising demand for fedoras among the younger crowd. He'd shaken the fashion industry once with his Peaky Blinders' flat cap, and it seems Cillian Murphy has done it again.

Footage from Murphy's forthcoming cinemascape, where he portrays the "father of the atomic bomb," shows him wearing a hat that significantly resembles a Fedora. However, interestingly, the hat, a symbol integral to J. Robert Oppenheimer's persona, was not quite a Fedora, as it featured a flat crown instead of a pinched one. And here is where the talented costume designer, Ellen Mirojnick stepped in.

She spoke about the hat saying, "I think of Oppenheimer like a rock star." She was armed with a few images of Oppenheimer's original hat but found it challenging to create. After a few failed attempts by others, she approached LA's Baron Hats and worked closely with its founder, Mark Mejia.

They met Murphy, and with his head measurements, Mejia embarked on the hat making process. "It’s like artfully disheveled hair, it takes a lot of fussing", Murphy said about his iconic Fedora in an interview with the LA Times. It was finally crafted from a light undyed beaver felt after two months, making a strong statement about Oppenheimer's character.

This is not the first time Murphy's on-screen choice of headgear has influenced fashion trends. His character in Peaky Blinders saw a significant rise in the popularity of old-fashioned flat caps over the last few years. However, the Fedora seems to have outstripped the flat cap, both in sales and popularity, further cementing Murphy's influence in the fashion market.

Amidst all of this, Murphy's iconic Fedora, unique and memorable, is about to become a new statement in the hat world. "This particular hat makes such a statement," said Mirojnick. Indeed, Murphy, once again, proves his penchant for influencing the world of fashion, making it clear, his taste in hats is always ahead of the curve!

(Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.)