#AllCoopedUp with Lola Ehrlich, Hat Designer
Lola Ehrlich was born in Holland and grew up in Paris, where her parents—an artist and a writer—encouraged her creative side while keeping her out of school. After failing as a ballet dancer, she moved to New York, where she worked as a crafts designer, textile conservator and magazine editor. Lola then opened a shop on Saint Marks Place specializing in one-of-a-kind hats for East Villagers and a few adventurous uptowners. She combines artisanal techniques with deceptively simple design to create hats with unmistakably contemporary style. Based in Brooklyn, she use vintage and custom-designed blocks, the softest felts and the most pliable straws to make luxurious hats that are at once wickedly chic and supremely comfortable. Her hats have appeared on covers of magazines ranging from Elle to Vogue Italia. In normal, times Lola divides her time between her Bushwick studio and her house in Saint Paul-de-Vence. I can’t imagine a beach day (or a backyard quarantine hang) without a Lola hat on my head. - Jenna
What’s your profession, and what does your day-to-day work experience look like now?
I’m the owner and creative director of Lola Hats. Since the start of the lockdown, I‘ve spent some time each day sending little messages to my team of hat makers to check on their well-being and cheer them up. And of course I’m thinking a lot about how to use this time to recalibrate my business and improve and modify things for the future.
Are there objects or spaces in your house that you are newly appreciating? Or are there objects and spaces you have come to loathe?
I live in a small-ish apartment, so I know every nook and cranny intimately. But somehow I spend an inordinate amount of time in, on, or near my bed right now....
Describe your at-home quarantine uniform.
Since it’s still relatively cool here in NYC, I’m wearing lots of big sweaters over UNIQLO jersey wide-legged pleated pants. I have an amazing collection of felted French slippers and Moroccan babouches in bright colors and patterns. So those are my main accessories right now.
Who are you quarantining with? Do you feel the need to “get away”? How do you make it happen?
With my husband and we’re having such a great time. In normal times, we both work a lot and do a lot of activities independently, so it’s great to hang together.
What’s the last thing you purchased online? Regret or obsessed?
Obsessed: a pair of navy leather Birkenstocks. I can’t wait to wear them. But I seriously need a professional pedicure. Somehow the “at home” job doesn’t cut it for me..
Tell us the best shows, podcasts, or books you’re loving right now.
I started watching Mrs. America. Cate Blanchet never lets me down. And I’m re-watching my favorite French show Call My Agent! It’s so brilliant and funny!
What is your favorite quarantine snack? What restaurants are you ordering takeout from?
I like to cook, so no takeout for us. But I’m snacking like crazy on Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds. I easily go through a dozen a day. I keep thinking about Obama and his 7 evening almonds. And his were not chocolate covered...!
Describe your biggest quarantine indulgence.
Long, long baths. I give myself whole hammam scrubs with black soap and a kessa mitt. It’s just so rejuvenating. Your skin feels like a baby’s butt afterward.
What are you doing for exercise?
Yoga, like everyone else, non?
Are you sharing recipes with friends?
I only make things that require 5 or 6 ingredients, beside the basic pantry stuff (salt, pepper, olive oil, etc). My friends are into much more challenging cooking than me; they don’t need my recipes!
What’s been the biggest challenge for you throughout this?
So many. The President's inability to govern the country in a crisis — or any other time for that matter. The concern for my relatives who are on the front lines. And, of course, the death toll and the tragedy for so many.
But I’m also appalled by my slovenly nature. I’m very happy doing nothing, and that alarms me! I must have been a sloth in my previous life — and most likely returning to it in my next.
When this is over I cannot wait to ___________.
Take the subway to go to the beach in the Rockaways!
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