How That Giant Straw Jacquemus Hat Won Instagram This Summer
Until June, "hat drama" was for drunk uncles at Thanksgiving, defiantly sporting their MAGA hats during dinner. But for Insta-famous models and a certain French designer, red baseball caps are for amateurs. The real story starts in Paris, as model Amilna Estevao wears a giant straw hat down Jacquemus' Spring / Summer 2018 runway.
Called La Bomba, it's a massive accessory—over a foot high and nearly two feet wide—that's striking, easy to wear, and very expensive. It is, in other words, an Instagram dream, with over 200 images for the tag #JacquemusHat, another thousand or so floating on the #Jacquemus tag, and—I cannot make this up—its own fan art on Tumblr.
Re-gram appeal isn't the only reason this massive hat won this summer's style wars. Rihanna, Jessica Chastain, and lots of naked models helped push it along to victory, too. But it was a case of mistaken identity, starring Bella Hadid and Diet Prada, that really pushed the hat's exposure over the edge, making it the most-hyped accessory in a summer of Supreme drops.
Here's a rundown of how the La Bomba hat achieved its ultimate glory—consider it a cheat sheet for future Instagram #goals.
Step 1: Put It On Repeat 
Andy Warhol said, "life is just a series of images that change as they repeat themselves." Jacquemus designer Simon Porte might agree, since his Instagram is one long copy/paste. He posts each photo three times in a row, meaning every shot of La Bomba had 3x the chances to land in our timelines. With 123 posts in the span of 11 months, that hat appeared on our feeds about 10 times a month since September. Whew.
Step 2: Enlist Famous Fans
SINCE THE BEGINNING!!! ALWAYS SO SUPPORTIVE RIHANNA EN JACQUEMUS! JUERGEN TELLER / VOGUE PARIS ❤️ #labomba #rihanna
A post shared by SIMON PORTE JACQUEMUS (@jacquemus) on Nov 27, 2017 at 7:01am PST
Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, and Emily Ratajkowski wore the La Bomba hat in major photo shoots, with @theblondesalad, @garypeppergirl, and @styleheroine endorsing it, too. If you believe in influencer marketing, La Bomba got it done.
Step 3: Send Nudes
A post shared by SIMON PORTE JACQUEMUS (@jacquemus) on Jun 14, 2018 at 9:03am PDT
Last year was all about the naked dress. This year, let's just get naked—especially on a beach in the French Riviera, wearing a giant Jacquemus hat (and hopefully SPF 10000). Anja Rubik led the pack, but babes from Mykonos to Miami were setting similar thirst traps, inspired by the designer's own campaign.
Step 4: Get Publicly Shamed
in my leisure suite
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