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Luke Song: How I Made Aretha Franklin's Famous Obama Inauguration Hat
https://www.thedailybeast.com/luke-song-how-i-made-aretha-franklins-famous-obama-inauguration-hat?ref=homeLuke Song: How I Made Aretha Franklin’s Famous Obama Inauguration Hat
Luke Song made hundreds of hats for Aretha Franklin. The most famous was for Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration. He recalls her memorable store visits, soft voice, and love of bling.
Tim Teeman
08.16.18 1:55 PM ET
It was the hat that reigned triumphant at President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.
That day, Aretha Franklin performed “My Country, 'Tis of Thee,” and the world went wild for her grey felt hat with an extravagant bow that perfectly framed her face, and which was dotted with Swarovski crystals.
The hat’s designer, Luke Song, told The Daily Beast that hearing of Franklin's death, aged 76, on Thursday had made it “one of the saddest days. She was an amazing woman.”
snip//
Song laughed softly again. “Then the inauguration! She just walked right on in as usual and said, ‘I need a hat for the inauguration!’ And, of course, you’re kind of floored about that. What do you do on such an occasion? It left me scrambling, but I think the result speaks for itself. She just gives you a task and you just do it. It just came to me.”
Franklin bought the coat she was wearing on the day, and Song “just went from there.” He prepared three different hats for Franklin to wear for the occasion, he told The Daily Beast: one with fur, one with a topper, and the one that Franklin ended up wearing.
“That one was chosen because of the cold and because of the sun. You just leave everything in the lap of the fashion gods. Everything was out of my hands. It was chosen by the circumstances.”
The base of the hat is a structured beret made out of felt, he said. The bow is a long piece of felt, made into a bow and adorned with crystals.
“Something I know she loves is bling,” Song said, chuckling warmly. “Oh yes, she’s known for her bling of course. Go bling or go home. She didn't say that, but you know. She just loved her bling. All I wanted to do, knowing Miss Franklin, was know what she usually likes and then best represent her and her personality, and follow how she would like to be represented. We had very little time. She was off to Washington, and it was as simple as that. It was nothing really complicated.”
Franklin was concerned about her voice, singing on such a cold day.
“She wanted to be warm,” said Song. “That was a big concern, so she had a tall collar and she wanted the hat to be warm as well, so I used really thick felt. I made sure she was warm, and she said she was warm.”
Song stayed in Detroit, and Franklin drove from Washington to Detroit with the hat.
“The rest is history,” said Song softly. “When I saw her wearing her it, I probably had two minutes of appreciation and then my phone started ringing. It was an incredible moment. I still can’t grasp what happened even to this day. I shared in one of our country’s biggest events, and I’m so privileged to have shared it with Miss Franklin.”
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/luke-song-how-i-made-aretha-franklins-famous-obama-inauguration-hat?ref=home
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