Poet

Name: Herbert Johnson Poet
Brand: Herbert Johnson
Availability: InStock

Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981 — as worn by Harrison Ford

The Herbert Johnson Poet fedora is an ever-present feature on Indiana Jones throughout Raiders of the Lost Ark, first standing out in the film’s tense opening jungle expedition as he enters the booby-trapped Peruvian temple in search of the Golden Idol, then continuing through the later globe-spanning action from Nepal to Cairo and beyond.

The scene

The Herbert Johnson Poet fedora is an ever-present feature on Indiana Jones throughout Raiders of the Lost Ark, first standing out in the film’s tense opening jungle expedition as he enters the booby-trapped Peruvian temple in search of the Golden Idol, then continuing through the later globe-spanning action from Nepal to Cairo and beyond. In the opening sequence, the hat is framed against dense jungle foliage and dim, crumbling stone corridors as Jones avoids poisoned darts, navigates collapsing passageways, and outruns the rolling boulder, immediately establishing both the perilous adventure tone and the fedora’s practical, iconic role.

Across the rest of the film, the hat is not limited to a single showcase scene but functions as the character’s continuous visual signature, linking otherwise very different settings with one uninterrupted piece of costume design. Its tall crown and broad brim create a stable silhouette that anchors Jones as scholar, field operative, and old-fashioned serial hero at once. Whether negotiating, searching, running, or fighting, the fedora remains inseparable from his identity.

Visually, the dark felt and contrasting ribbon register clearly in bright exteriors and shadowed interiors alike, framing Harrison Ford’s face in low angles, profiles, and wider action shots. The brim throws dramatic shadows while sharpening the instantly recognizable outline that the film returns to repeatedly, making the hat as essential to Indiana Jones’s screen presence as his whip and satchel.

Archive — the object

Herbert Johnson is a historic London hatter founded in 1889, with the Poet shape in its range since the late 19th to early 20th century. For Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford visited Herbert Johnson’s Old Burlington Street shop in 1980, where costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis collaborated with the company and sales manager Richard Swales modified the base Poet into the screen-used Indiana Jones version.

The Raiders hat was made in dark brown rabbit fur felt and altered from the standard Poet with film-specific refinements, including a more dimensional flanged brim profile and a narrower dark brown galloon ribbon band to emphasize the tall crown. Herbert Johnson states that the original Raiders hats were reshaped and hand-trimmed, with Richard Swales altering more than thirty Poet hats for production; five were made for Harrison Ford himself and marked with an I.J. embossing in the sweatband.

Herbert Johnson identifies the modern commercial equivalent as the Raiders Poet in Deep Sable. The current version is listed in fine rabbit fur felt with a dimensional flanged brim, a dark brown galloon ribbon in Raiders-style bow, straight-sided graduated blocks, a branded gold liner, and a mid tan soft leather sweatband. The on-screen Raiders Poet established the signature fedora silhouette most closely associated with Indiana Jones across the film.

Acquisition ticket

AvailabilityAvailable New

MakerHerbert Johnson

Where to find it

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Production Notes

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