Heritage and Hip Hop’s High Flyers: The Cultural Impact of Kangol

In fact, Kangol trace their roots all the way back to the 1920s with founder Jacques Spreiregen. A World War I veteran, Spreiregen began importing Basque-style berets from France to supply to the military, blue collar workers, and golfers, before establishing his own factory alongside his nephew, Joseph Meisner, in England’s Cumbria region in 1938. When it came time to name his newly established brand, Spreiregen went with ‘Kangol’ as a nod to his caps’ actual production: ‘K’ for ‘knitting’, ‘ANG’ for ‘angora’, and ‘OL’ for ‘wool’. So, the name ‘Kangol’ actually has nothing to do with a kangaroo. In fact, the brand’s now-iconic logo wasn’t even introduced until 1983!

Based on his original role as an importer and supplier, Spreiregen continued to be a go-to for the British military during World War II, supplying the armed forces with their signature berets throughout the conflict. By the time the war came to an end, Spreiregen and Kangol had opened two additional factories, and were churning out over one million caps per year.

From those beginnings, the brand’s popularity continued to grow. England’s entire Olympic team even rocked Kangol berets during the opening ceremony for the 1948 games in London and, by the 1960s, Kangol had brought designers Mary Quant and Pierre Cardin on board to take things to the next level. As a result, Kangol caps began appearing on the heads of English royalty – both figuratively and literally – and could regularly be seen on the Beatles and, eventually, the late Princess Diana.

It was the 1980s, though, that firmly established Kangol as a fashion icon. Not only did Kangol go all-in on their newfangled kangaroo logo, but the decade saw the brand’s caps become a ubiquitous staple in the burgeoning world of hip hop. To this day, it remains unclear exactly who was the first to begin wearing the brand, but LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and Grandmaster Flash are as good a place to start as any, and were almost single-handedly responsible for kicking off Kangol’s cultural relevance in the United States. Brooklyn-based outfit UTFO’s Shiller Shaun Fequiere even went by the name ‘Kangol Kid’, and sported a beret on the covers of the group’s first two LPs, while MC Shan could rarely be seen without his trusty Bermuda.

Naturally, that success carried over into the 90s, as Kangol earned even more cultural cachet. Wesley Snipes’ Nino Brown made Kangol his go-to in Mario Van Peebles’ New York neo-noir New Jack City – rocking the backwards 504 style in the same fashion as the Kangol Kid – while Samuel L. Jackson constantly donned (and still dons) the LL Cool J- and MC Shan-approved Bermuda, both on screen and off. The 504 – which graced Slick Rick’s The Ruler’s Back cover in ’91 – was also right up there, and everyone from Ludacris and Missy Elliott to Schoolboy Q and even Eminem have shown love to the ‘roo ever since. Queen Bey herself even made Kangol a focal point of her iconic Coachella performance in 2018, outfitting her backup dancers in Kangols made specially for her performance.

Suffice to say, Kangol has cemented its place at the top, and recent collaborations from Alexander Wang, Stussy, and Patta have only reaffirmed the brand’s unimpeachable status.

The Casual, Bucket, and 504 can now all be picked up on SneakerHub in all of their Bermuda glory – complete with timeless black and white executions. And if you’re into something a little more old school, the drop has you covered, with an all-wool version of the 504 as a nod to the brand’s Basque beret roots.