There are a lot of brands that boast about their American heritage, even if they’re only a few decades old.

Then there’s Stetson.

The quintessential Western brand was founded in 1865 by John B. Stetson, who hailed from a hat-making family in New Jersey. When he was 20 years old, Stetson came down with tuberculosis and headed West to treat his disease — and search for gold.

It was during his time in Colorado that he recovered and became acquainted with the other gold rushers and cowboys in the Rockies.

It didn’t take long for him to notice that the coon hats these Westerners wore didn’t provide protection from the elements and often attracted fleas.

So he drew on his experience in the hat business and developed a model made of waterproof felt with a wide brim and a tall crown that soon became the headwear of choice for these adventurers. He called it The Boss of the Plains, and the cowboy hat was born.

Today, that business remains the quintessential Western hat maker. It’s owned by a family that prefers to remain anonymous that has been in the Western business since the 1960s. Although the original company stopped manufacturing in the 1970s, the hats are still produced in America by Hatco, the company’s manufacturing and distribution partner, in Garland, Texas, in some cases on machinery that has been in use for generations.

For the past four years, the business has been overseen by chief executive officer Robert Dundon, a fashion industry executive whose background includes Pentland Brands, Fossil, Thomas Pink and Paul Smith. He joined as chief operating officer and was elevated to chief executive officer in March of 2023.

“When I started talking to [the owners] about the role, I thought that I knew everything I needed to know about the brand,” he said. “And then when I started to look into what they were doing and how they were putting a more-modern face on the brand, it just became really compelling. And I determined that this was an absolute gold mine sitting right out in the open that had never been fully tapped into. Given their position and presence in the West, American history and culture, it just seemed like there was so much runway to grow the brand.”

The process of modernizing the American-made business started in 2019 when Stetson was given a “rebrand.” Dundon said the update included a website that was “Americana” rather than “Western,” an e-commerce business. The company also started exploring licensing opportunities.

To commemorate the company’s 160^th anniversary this year, Stetson created a limited-edition premium straw hat, the JBS Edition 50X, made from shantung straw with a saddle leather hatband and sweatband and gold JBS branding iron hat pit with inset stones. Only 400 pieces were made and they retailed for $230. They sold out in less than a week.

Coming this fall will be a Stetson art coffee-table book published by Rizzoli. “They’ve been a great partner for us and have come up with the definitive volume that tells the Stetson story and what it’s known for,” Dundon said. The book will speak to product as well as “this great American history and a love story between the brand and its consumers. It’s a really good take on the brand, what it has meant and how it’s stood the test of time for over a century and a half.”

Looking at the brand’s history, Dundon said Stetson “hasn’t changed at all. It’s the expression of the brand that has changed.”

Western themes are having a moment in fashion and music right now — from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and her “Cowboy Carter” album to Pharrell Williams’ fall ’24 Louis Vuitton men’s show to last year’s Isabel Marant’s cowboy chic collection. And Stetson is well positioned to capitalize on the trend, the CEO said.

“Country music has crossed over and Western culture has spread from the center of the country,” Dundon said. “And with that comes a curiosity. Stetson features heavily in that story because we’re the hat brand everybody knows. When you say Stetson, it’s a synonym for ‘hat.’ So we have the opportunity to really tell the story through content creation and this great digital flagship.”

The company’s website is its best advertising vehicle, he said. In addition to storytelling, the platform also shows the breadth of the Stetson universe, which ranges from apparel and boots to fragrance, small leather goods and jewelry.

“Our business has grown in the double digits every year since 2021,” he said. And unlike the “Urban Cowboy” trend of the early 1980s, which lasted 18 months and then died, “what we’re seeing now is longevity because it transcends just a popular movie or show. It’s really found its way into peoples’ minds and hearts.”

Today, headwear accounts for 75 percent of Stetson’s total business and is still the “cornerstone of the brand,” he said.

Boots have been especially popular, he said, with sales doubling every year for the past two years. And while Stetson continues to be a male-oriented brand, women’s is becoming increasingly popular and 50 percent of all boot sales today are women’s.

“I think women are more engaged with a fashion moment,” he said, adding that Stetson created the hat Knowles-Carter wore on the cover of her “Cowboy Carter” album and that “created more energy for the brand and traffic to our website.”

The fragrance too has been a perennial favorite. It debuted 40 years ago and in its peak in the 1980s, was over a $100 million business, he said. “Other things have come and gone but it’s always been on the shelf,” he said.

In recent years, the company has introduced a couple of new fragrances and it has tapped “Yellowstone” actor Luke Grimes to be the face for the scent and men’s grooming products.

In addition to Knowles-Carter and Grimes, Stetson also did a collaboration with Bruno Mars on a popular Ranger hat, as well as a trucker hat with Post Malone. The brand also supplied 100 cowboy hats for Ryan Gosling’s musical number from the “Barbie” movie, “I’m Just Ken,” at the Academy Awards last year.

“Last year was big for us in terms of getting a few really well-known faces,” he said. “We also work with a lot of artists and musicians and supply headwear for them.”

More recently, the brand created a custom bowler for Usher to wear for his Met Gala performance.

Dundon said that while Stetson is best known for its cowboy hats, dress and outdoor looks make up 20 percent of the headwear.

In addition to the straw hat and Rizzoli book, Dundon said Stetson is also creating a special capsule collection for the 160^th anniversary that will feature commemorative, limited-edition hats, including flat-brim models, as well as belts and small leather goods. It will be released in the third quarter.

And not specifically related to the anniversary, Stetson will also be launching a couple of new categories this year. Last year, it got into the coffee business with a company called Free Rein, created by Cole Hauser of “Yellowstone,” and now “we’re getting into the food business by launching beef jerky with a partner,” he said. “That feels like a good fit for the younger, protein-obsessed consumer.”

The brand is planning to go into the home business with a new bed and bath licensee. And an entry into spirits by introducing bourbon is also in the cards for next year.

“We’re really trying to fill out this lifestyle, from home, food and beverage, apparel, footwear, headwear. Those are the main focuses for us,” Dundon said.

Where does he see Stetson in the future? “I’m a steward for this brand and I would still want to retain our status as the headwear authority that you can rely on for craftsmanship, enduring quality and style,” he said. “Then we would want to develop into this great American brand that has strong roots in the U.S. but has opportunities and an audience in Europe, Asia, Latin America. Those are markets we’re already in, but we want to become more of a lifestyle brand.”

Currently, 25 percent of Stetson’s business comes from Europe and the brand just launched into Mexico last year.

The e-commerce business currently accounts for about 20 percent of Stetson’s business and although the brand doesn’t operate stores in the U.S., there are six in Europe and Dundon said that adding its own retail stores is “definitely on the roadmap for us.”

Until that time, the company will continue to lean into its website. “When I joined, it was just a platform. Now it’s a meaningful piece of our business and I see that continuing to grow,” he said. “It’s the place people can come and really see the fullness of the brand. Since we don’t have a brick-and-mortar store in the U.S., that is where you come to see all the categories and really experience the brand. We have a great story section on the website with a lot of our archival material, and it really gives you a sense of what the brand is beyond the products.”