Page 28 - BusinessWest October 31, 2022

Women of IMPACT
IMPACTA PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST Women of
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
IMPACT
WOMEN WOMENof Impact
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Anika Lopes
Amherst Town Councilor; President, Ancestral Bridges
of ImpactWomen of A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of Women of IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
By Connecting Past with Present, She’s Changing the Narrative of Amherst’s History
WBy Joseph Bednar
hile showing off her extensive collection of hat blocks in her Amherst home, Anika Lopes explained how they tell a story of her time in New York City, but, more importantly, of generations before her.
“Hats really are a universal connector. You’d be hard-pressed to find any culture in the world that doesn’t have
traditions with some sort of headwear, whether that’s a feather, bones, a traditional hat, or just something to keep people warm. It’s a space of universal connection.”
Lopes has dedicated much of her life to making connections, particularly involving the long, often-undertold history of Black and Indigenous communities in and around Amherst. It’s work she took up in earnest after returning to her hometown in 2019.
But let’s start with the hats.
“It was a whirlwind experience being in the fashion industry, but I got to the point where my passion for connecting people and wanting to help people, which has always been something in me, made me feel like I needed more.”
28
As an artist and sculptor who graduated from the New School University, she found herself interning with Horace Weeks, one of the first Black men to own a hat factory, Peter & Irving, in the Garment District of New York City. “Millinery chose me,” she said, using the proper name for hat design. “I was fascinated by Mr. Weeks, and walking into that space felt like walking back in time. I had always had a passion for sculpting, and hand-blocking hats was very much like sculpting.”
Lopes and an ex-partner eventually took over the factory and revamped it, and she found overnight attention when the R&B artist Usher commissioned a hat from her in 2005 and wore it on a popular MTV show. “Pretty much overnight, that hat was on billboards in Times Square, and I had buyers from all over the world calling in,” Lopes said. “I thought, now what do I do? And I looked at it for the opportunity it was.”
Photo by Leah Martin Photography