Help support a woman entrepreneur's belief in American made, sustainable, quality.

By donating to this campaign you are investing in:

• Educating young people through a trade with apprenticeships that incorporate artisanal practices with new technology.

• Manufacturing transparency: knowing where products come from, how they are made and who is making them for you.

• Creative economies that benefit local workforce development through maintaining trades.

With this money we intend buy 1) 2 proper machines to make hats (we have been using home machines which creates challenges with construction of many styles), 2) artisan blocks to create styles in more sizes, and 3) software to aid production and training.  

We need these factors to improve our offerings and create a strong, beneficial apprenticeship program for high school youth.

Every contribution at any level, even $1 helps let us know that you believe what we are doing will have a positive impact in the present and for future generations.

Hi There!

My name is Elwyn and I've practiced the art of hand crafting hats for 9 years. I make headwear that lets you stand ahead of the crowd, using artisan methods of molding and sculpting felts and straws, combined with hand finishing work.  This process of crafting superior quality hats is satisfying and I strive to create a hat to suit a person inside and out.

This is WHY I am passionate about hats.

• They are a form of communication that speaks to our individuality and to the relationship we have to a larger collective, or to our tribe.
• They express creativity and intelligence.  They create mystique.  They suggest pure, playful, fun!
• Across cultures and for thousands of years hats: protect us from the elements; celebrate special times in life; attract the opposite sex; and articulate rank and place.
• Hat making is an art form that explores materiality in 4 dimensions.
  

Hats can transform a person or an event, and can also be a vehicle for larger change.

Ethical sourcing and production is part of O'Lover Hats ethos, as is building up our local creative economy.

We want to create a strong hat company; one that makes super stylish headwear; one that upholds the artisan practice of our trade while bringing it into the 21st century; one to make our country and industry proud.

Our design studio is instituting a training program to support the continuation of the art of hand crafting hats.  Apprentices will be versed in traditional techniques and gain valuable technological skills with design software and new technologies that facilitate production.

A bit on our credentials

I started my business in 2006 from nothing, with no financing and have worked hard and consistently to grow my company to have consistent growth with improved returns every year.

I won "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2011, from the Women's Initiative for my focus on sustainable art economies that give back to the community. 

O'Lover Hats is a member of Oakland’s award winning sustainable business incubator, The 25th Street Collective. 

Our collective received the “Innovative Newbie” at the Oakland Indie awards in 2012!

Every contribution at any level, even $1 helps let us know that you believe what we are doing will have a positive impact in the present and for future generations.

 Thank you!