Photography Renée Parkhurst
Talent Petite Meller
Interview Oliver Kupper

OLIVER KUPPER Your main gig is photography, so naturally you spend a lot of time around stylists and the fashion world. How long have you been thinking about starting your own accessories brand?

RENÉE PARKHURST The idea for launching a brand has been cultivating in my mind for quite a while now. During the slowed down pace of 2020, the brand came into view as a high end bucket hat collection. With photography as my main gig over the past eleven years, I have been helping build other brands, magazines, and everything in between—so to use that knowledge and experience towards my own project has been so incredibly fascinating and really so much fun. All the tools being right in front of me and having the downtime during lockdown seemed the best time to put my head down and focus on COCOBUNNY.

KUPPER There is a long tradition of hat makers in fashion, why did you gravitate to making hats and who are some of your favorite milliners or hat makers?

PARKHURST I feel that hats are such a versatile and expressive aspect of style, and I’d realized that the bucket hat specifically has such an underutilized youthful and wistful silhouette that could also be worn up in a stylistic evening wear setting as well, the missing ingredients were singularity of design and the highest grade materials. Of course, almost every high end label has a high quality bucket hat, but I saw a wide open space in the market to focus primarily on these beloved pieces. I beyond love what Philip Treacy created with Alexander McQueen, all of those runway pieces blow my mind.

KUPPER The bucket hat is such a staple of 90s and 2000s fashion, what about the aesthetics and style of that era inspire you?

PARKHURST Those decades are without a doubt my go to. My first fondest memories are the early 90s era and my early teens in the 2000s.

KUPPER Where did you grow up and who were your earliest style inspirations?

PARKHURST I was born in LA and grew up in San Clemente. I think growing up in the midst of MTV music video culture really inspired me. Taking in daily at a young age what musicians of that era were wearing had a longstanding impression.

KUPPER What was the material sourcing like, you use materials like silk and faux fur, can you talk a little bit about the journey of crafting the perfect bucket hat.

PARKHURST Right now we have two faux fur pieces, two leather pieces, and two cotton pieces. Using the absolute top quality materials is extremely important and is what defines the brand, it puts it at the highest caliber. Our plush faux furs are from Italy, our leathers are the highest quality and texture, our cotton is all domestically grown, and all the bucket hats are lined with 100% black charmeuse. We’ve created immaculate sizing, and having the highest quality on top of that really makes it the perfect bucket hat.

KUPPER Where did the name of the brand come from?

PARKHURST COCOBUNNY came from a nickname of mine.

KUPPER One of the great things about bucket hats is their universality and democratic power. Who did you see wearing your hats and do you see them paired with a more relaxed look, formal look, or both?

PARKHURST Absolutely, I’ve seen from older men, women to children styling a bucket hat. I’m always noticing anyone in public with one on and it’s incredible to pay attention to this in every city. Anyone and everyone with a strong sense of identity I’d love to see in COCOBUNNY, wearing it in their own individual way. It can be completely styled into a relaxed look as it naturally has been, but I really envisioned it as a formal evening wear accessory, being an elevated key element of the look.

KUPPER Can you talk about the seasonality of the hats, will there be a seasonal collection cycle or will you make drops when you are ready to release a new collection?

PARKHURST I really opted out of the idea of seasonal collections from the beginning with COCOBUNNY. The pieces to me are timeless, and are in no way following trend patterns or seasons. Especially living in a place that has no change in seasons, I’ve forgotten what that concept is. Kidding, but I think it’s more valuable in my mind to keep them all as one ongoing archive. Aligned with the modality of music releases, I launched the brand with a small capsule collection of six similar to an “EP,” will continue to release “singles,” and then will later follow with a larger collection “LP.” I’m really allowing a no rules kind of approach to it all.

KUPPER What does fall 2021 hold for Cocobunny?

PARKHURST Currently I’m working on new designs at the moment that I’m extremely excited about. I’ve got a list of incredible talent I’ll be shooting in the meantime, and planning a few pop ups in LA and looking at Paris and Mexico City as well.

KUPPER What is your ultimate advice for young people to break into photography or to start their own brand?

PARKHURST To just start with any means that you’re able to, and don’t ever compare your work with anyone else’s. Avoid trends and create these things with the intention of something to keep for you, your story. Authenticity in it all will let it blossom.

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