LOS ANGELES — Whether you’re a fashion-forward fascinator kind of gal, timeless as a stove top or yearning for the elegance of the turban, Meeka Robinson-Davis knows exactly which hat is in style for her customers at One of a Kind Hats in Windsor Hills.
She’s a second generation milliner, a skill she inherited from her mother, Sonya Robinson, who started out customizing hats on Broadway.
Eventually, Robinson opened a business of her own, becoming the go-to hat maker for esteemed first ladies of churches in Los Angeles and beyond.
“A lot of women had crowns on or hats on to represent their heritage and where they come from,” Robinson-Davis said.
Crowns are deeply rooted in the Black church culture. It’s said that after slavery, Black women considered a hat a spiritual symbol of honor when praising the Lord.
One of her customers, Jacqueline, who’s from Jamaica but now lives in San Pedro, feels incomplete bowing before God without her crown.
“Your head has power, so we cover our head so we can pray and prophesize effectively,” Jacqueline said. “Some people don’t believe it but that’s what the bible says.”
Over time, that belief has faded, as many modern millennial women don’t feel the need to dress up for every Sunday service. Another customer, Andrea, said she reserves a fashionable chapeau for special occasions like Easter Sunday.
“I grew up in church with women always being immaculately clad and always wearing the most phenomenal church hats,” Andrea said. “I have to get my bonnet. I have to get a nice jazzy bonnet to celebrate our first service back in person for Easter.”
It’s the modern crown-wearer like Andrea that made Robison-Davis feel like it was time to bring her daughter, Christiana Davis, into their matriarchal business. Now, Davis is using social media to usher in a new generation.
“I think that every woman’s legacy is uniquely her own and as part of the womanhood that I’ve stepped into, I kind of have my own interpretation of what One of a Kind Hats is,” Davis said. “I really enjoy it.”
Her mom says evolution is the key to keeping the tradition alive. “I love being sandwiched in between the pioneer and the new generation that’s taking this business to a new level,” Robinson-Davis said.
Hats that represent an emblem of godly womanhood, creating a sisterhood, to hopefully conserve a legacy.