Consider the hat. No other item of apparel has the ability to transform one's look so drastically in an instant. "A hat frames your face like a picture frame," explains Victor Osborne, whose signature line of headgear -- ranging from tight caps to fedoras and even berets -- has been making waves since 2006. The 26-year-old Brooklyn hatter has found a comfortable niche in a "weird corner of the fashion industry," and his atelier on a sleepy block of Leonard Street in Williamsburg is a hive of activity, turning out hats for the wholesale, retail, custom, ready-to-wear, and "crazy editorial" markets (see full gallery). Recent credits include a line of hats for the Diesel show at Fashion Week, a holiday collection for Barneys, and even a hat line for Barbie's 50th birthday.

And while many of his customers fit the mold of New York fashion plates, demand for his high-end lids comes from all over. Osborne points out that Tokyo's Isetan department store has been outfitting Shinjuku scenesters with his Zip B-Ball for several months. "And last week I sent a top hat to Idaho," he notes, amused. While fashionable society is hardly in the midst of a hat renaissance, Osborne's workshop, with its mix of modern art and antique hat-making equipment, enjoys a steady stream of customers, with Osborne and one assistant turning out a parade of men's and ladies' hats on a seasonal basis. So what's big for 2009? Apparently the same thing that was popular in 1959. "Everybody wants a cropped fedora," he says, betraying a fondness for Sinatra's style. As to whether hats are fated to have a nostalgic quality, he posits that "we need to find a hat for each generation." And, given the high-profile clients who frequent Osborne's shop -- an A-list fan-base that include Katie Holmes (pictured here sporting "The Marlene" from Osborne's Fall 2008 collection), Rihanna, and Evan Rachel Wood -- he might just be the one to create it. "Some of the smallest celebrities have the biggest heads," he says of his superstar following. "And I don't mean ego-wise!"