Fragrance house

Stetson

Founded in Philadelphia in 1865 by John B. Stetson, Stetson built its identity around American hatmaking. In the late 1860s, Stetson introduced the Boss of the Plains, a wide-brimmed design that became associated with the modern cowboy hat and the American West. The Stetson family sold the company by the 1970s, and in 1984 Ira Guilden bought the Stevens Hat Company and returned Stetson to hat manufacturing. The company later entered bankruptcy after overextending itself in the late 1980s. Stetson marked its 150th anniversary in 2015, and a 2020 relaunch modernized its visual presentation while retaining its tradition and authenticity. Its fragrance legacy is centered on Stetson Original, released by Coty in 1981 under license from the hat company. The scent ranked among the top three U.S. mass-market fragrance bestsellers for more than ten years and remains linked to Stetson’s Western identity.