Maryam, who does quality control, is the most New Yorker of us all: She has moved 10 times and lived in all five boroughs since arriving from Teheran in Iran 10 years ago. She came to study fashion and art at the Fashion Institute of Technology and never left, hooked by the energy of the city. Yet she loves sitting quietly and listening to podcasts while inspecting the hats. In her free time, though, she’s super active, designing bags — check them out at @maryam.designs.nyc preparing delicious Persian food for her weekly meals, and touring the city to take pictures of wildlife. Her big headphones and radiant smile have become a trademark of the studio.

This is Angeles making a FIRST AID. Originally from Mexico Angeles has a rich experience making hats since over the years she’s worked at many millinery studios. Beside being great at making hats she can also fix sewing machines. A very useful skill since we work with antiques!

Regina is our trimmer, the person who decorates our hats, and her specialty is trimming Camargos. It’s the most fun job at the studio! Although she has only been with us since March, it feels like she’s been part of the team forever. Regina grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, in a creative environment — both of her parents were ballet dancers — and she’s now taking evening millinery classes at FIT while honing her skills with us until she can move into her dream job of film costuming. In her free time, she’s making an experimental short film, which requires her to wear many hats as she handles the writing, directing, editing, costuming and everything else. We’re looking forward to its release day!

Meet Miki - who is from Japan 🇯🇵 is our MEGAPHONE specialist, amongst other hats. She start her day by biking to the pool for a refreshing swim. On her leisure time she makes wonderful vignette hats that are socio/ecological statements. You can check them out at @loveandpeacemiki

Adriana came from Holland 20 years ago. There she made theater costumes. With us she does all the development of the fabric hats and designs our headbands. But she also brainstorms with me on any other creative endeavors when I get stuck and comes up with amazing ideas. On her own time she makes incredibly charming dolls that you can check out at @easleypop

Here’s Diana surrounded by her day’s work. Some of you might recognize her since she has been with us off and on (more on than off) since 2007. She started out as our studio assistant, moved to international sales, set up our e-commerce, and now is our production manager. Diana makes it all happens, something she really has the hang of since she has two little boys. As the first American-born child of Peruvian parents, she helped her mom sell Andean handknits and gifts at craft fairs as soon as she could talk (and managed the cashbox as soon as she could count). This sparked her passion for meeting people and listening to their stories. She loves dancing and restoring old furniture and is also a half-marathon runner. Go Diana!

Meet Temba. He is our chief blocker and comes from Nepal. Beside being a great blocker (he molds the felt and straws on the wooden forms) he is super ingenious and I can always rely on him for solving any mechanical problem.

Luisa is from Cuenca in Ecuador where she learned to weave Panama hats at her mother’s knee and later graduated in tailoring. She moved to New York 20 years ago and has worked in the fashion Industry ever since. After the lockdown she joined us and soon became our Tarboush and Rise n’ Shine specialist. But her talents are not limited to hats—she makes all her own clothes and likes to cook. When she finds a plump little guinea pig at her local market, she’ll roast it on her balcony—an occasional treat and a specialty from her home town that she promised she would share with us next time!

Here is Gladys putting finishing stitches to one of our new Resort styles. Stripes are her specialty! Gladys came from Guayaquil in Ecuador 30 years ago. She keeps in touch with the cultures of her country and South America by dancing the salsa, combia and merengue! and savoring her favorite dishes such as ceviche and tostones.es here

Betty stitches some of the very big hats such as the SPINNERS and GIGA SPINNERS, some of which take her a full day to make! She’s originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador (a country rich in hat history). She loves to wear dangling earrings - as you can see - and cooking as well as sewing are her passions and I’m grateful for that since she spends hers days at the sewing machine