The calls began to flood Luke Song’s hat shop not long after Aretha Franklin finished belting out “My Country ‘tis of Thee” at President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

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Alex Wong/Pool/MCT

The design for Aretha Franklin’s hat actually came from two different hats she pointed out.

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TV show host Ellen DeGeneres wears a hat similar to Aretha Franklin’s.

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Days later, they haven’t stopped.

Song’s custom-designed women’s hats have been mainstays among Detroit’s stylish churchgoers. He even has somewhat of a national following as a wholesaler to about 500 boutiques across the country.

But the South Korean immigrant was not prepared for the requests from women wanting the same hat worn Tuesday by the “Queen of Soul.”

The 36-year-old designer has received hundreds of calls at his millinery shop for the gray, felt hat with a Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow.

“They want the same hat, but they understand, it’s for the ‘Queen’ only,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent said ‘that’s fine. I’ll get the next best thing.’”

That next best thing is a satin ribbon version that sells for $179. The exact hat Franklin wore was hand-molded and would cost upward of $500 — if it was for sale, Song said.

The family business has been in Detroit’s New Center area for about 25 years. Franklin has been a customer for about 20 of those years.

“We always make hats for her for high-profile events, so for us, the inauguration really was no big deal,” Song told The Associated Press Thursday from among more than 1,000 hats of various colors, shapes and sizes displayed in his 1,500-square-foot shop.

That was until the country got a gander at what Franklin was wearing.

“We even have a lot of men calling to get it for their wives, mothers and grandmothers,” Song said.

The design for Franklin’s hat actually came from two different hats she pointed out.

“It was Ms. Franklin’s idea,” he said. “She walked through the shop and said ‘I want that bow (put) on that hat.’”

“She had the coat already, but she needed the hat to set it off.”

One call Song received after the inauguration was from Betty Gach, the owner of Leigh Ltd. Boutique in Baltimore, who knew he made custom hats for Franklin and recognized his work.

Gach said her customers started calling her shop Wednesday.

“They asked ‘Isn’t that Mr. Song’s hat? What other colors does it come in?’” Gach said Thursday from Song’s shop, where she was picking up other hats for her business. Song already had sent her 24 of the Franklin “look-a-like” hats.