Conceptual scene of a western fur-felt hat on a block in a traditional hatmaker's workshop

An independent Gulf Coast hattery

Made for a lifetime,
not a season.

We’re making heirloom-quality fur-felt hats here in Mobile, Alabama—hats meant to be worn often, age beautifully, and gather a few stories along the way.

Explore our feltsFollow the workbench
Spring 2027Core collection in development

Conceptual image · Our first collection is currently in development.

Handcrafted on the Gulf Coast.

Made to Last for Generations.

01

Our Story

We’re building something
meant to last.

Hello, friend.

We started Azalea City Hatters with a simple idea: a good hat should take on the character of the person wearing it—and look better for having lived a little.

We’re building a small, independent hattery here in Mobile, Alabama. Our hats begin with genuine fur felt, classic shapes, patient handwork, and an understanding that Gulf Coast life can be hard on anything you wear.

We don’t want to make hats that feel too precious to use. We want to make the one you reach for—the one that travels through weather, work, celebrations, and ordinary days before it’s finally passed along.

We don’t just make hats. We tell stories—and we’d be honored to help you tell yours.

— Mike Murrill, Founder & Hatter

Built with discipline. Shaped with instinct. Made to become yours.

02

Our Three Felts

Material chosen
for the life ahead.

Every Azalea City hat is made from plainly identified fur felt. We use three materials, each selected for a different level of wear, durability, and life in a wet environment.

01

100% Rabbit

Light to moderate wear

Our ready-to-wear entry point, chosen for its color range, refined finish, and suitability for customers who do not need our highest level of wet-environment durability.

02

100% Nutria

Moderate wear

Our core Gulf Coast felt: durable, water resistant, regionally meaningful, and well suited to regular use in heat, humidity, and wet conditions when properly cared for.

03

100% Beaver

Moderate to heavy wear

Our premium heirloom-performance felt, selected for superior durability, water resistance, shape retention, and a long service life.

Our hats are designed to withstand an appropriately matched level of exposure to wet conditions. No fur-felt hat is represented as waterproof.

03

Built Into Every Hat

The little things
aren’t little to us.

We choose every material and finishing detail for comfort, usefulness, and a long life. If something doesn’t make the hat better, it doesn’t need to be there.

01

Genuine fur felt

We choose it for its resilience, shape, feel, and the way it develops character over time.

02

Two-inch sheepskin

A substantial leather sweatband helps the hat fit comfortably and hold its structure.

03

Branded by the maker

We mark the felt composition, maker, and ownership details with restraint and purpose.

04

A story to keep

Every named Azalea City hat will come with a provenance card telling its story.

04

The Hats Taking Shape

One hattery.
Plenty of stories to tell.

Our full collection is still on the workbench, but we’d like to introduce a few of the hats already taking shape in our Signature Line and future collections.

Signature Line · 100% Beaver

The Bienville

Our flagship hat: a confident, refined Western design built around the lasting performance of beaver felt.

Design in development

Signature · Gulf Coast Collection

The Grand-Père

A Western fedora reminiscent of the hats my grandfather—and the men of his generation—wore when I was a boy.

Design in development

Signature · Gulf Coast Collection · 100% Nutria

The Outdoorsman

A Western-weight nutria field hat intended for work, weather, and time outdoors.

Design in development

Town and Country Collection

The Country Gentleman

A refined crossover hat at home with both town tailoring and country wear.

Design in development

Town and Country Collection

The Riverboat Gambler

A dress-minded Western silhouette with a restrained sense of theater.

Design in development

Carnival Collection

The Merry Widow

A women’s Western hat whose story draws from Mobile’s distinctive Carnival tradition.

Working name · In development

Stories & Provenance

Every name carries a story.

We name our hats for a reason. Each one will have a short story connecting its design, materials, or name to the place and ideas that shaped it. We’ll include that story with the finished hat on a physical provenance card.

  • Model and individual build number
  • Felt composition, color, size, and completion date
  • Owner details where applicable
  • The story behind that particular model

Not simply a receipt of purchase.

A record of where the hat began—and whose story it joined.
05

From Felt to Finished Hat

Come along as the collection takes shape.

Our first hats are moving from ideas on paper to finished work. We’ll share the process here—including what works, what changes, and what we learn along the way.

  1. 01
    Design languageProportions, character, and collection direction established
    Complete
  2. 02
    Materials & componentsFelt, trim, interior, and finishing details
    In progress
  3. 03
    The first physical buildsBlocking, shaping, trimming, and fitting
    Next
  4. 04
    Evaluation & final specificationsWear, balance, finish, and product-ready details
    Ahead

We’ll add the first workbench entry when the physical build begins.