Meet James Anderson: Reviving a Luton Tradition

Artist of the Month: James Anderson

This month, we are shining a spotlight on James Anderson, a young Luton-based hat maker with a passion for preserving one of the town's most iconic traditions.

For generations, hat making has been at the heart of Luton's identity. Now, James is helping to ensure those skills, stories and traditions are not forgotten.

James is learning the traditional craft of hat making with the aim of keeping Luton's historic techniques alive and passing them on to future generations. His ambition goes beyond simply making hats. James hopes to restore original Luton-built hat-making machinery and use it to create traditional Luton straw boater hats, connecting the town's rich industrial heritage with a new generation of makers.

His passion for Luton's hat-making history has already seen him share his knowledge with the community. As part of Heritage Open Days 2025, James delivered Straw Boater: The Hat That Built Luton, an engaging talk exploring the history, craft and global legacy of the town's iconic straw hat industry.

The event brought together local people to celebrate a craft that once helped shape Luton's identity and reputation around the world.

James was also part of the Creative Pioneers 2025 cohort, a year-long start-up programme supporting emerging creative businesses and practitioners in Luton.

Through his work, James is not only learning a traditional craft but helping to protect an important part of Luton's cultural heritage. At a time when many historic skills risk being lost, his commitment to learning, restoring and sharing the craft of hat making is helping to ensure that Luton's remarkable hat-making story continues.

We are excited to see where James's journey takes him next and look forward to seeing how he continues to bring one of Luton's most recognisable traditions into the future.

Follow James and his hat-making journey on Instagram: @anderson_hats06