2020 Welcomed The Hiorns Hats Studio
In December 2019 I was deciding whether I should return to my full-time role as a National Account Manager in the Food Manufacturing Industry or whether I should fully focus on Hiorns Hats along with being a stay at home mum. The idea of being able to put more time in to my business and being able to fit it in around being mum to Stanley made sense. So in January 2020 I decided that it was the right time to take a step in a new direction.
So for Christmas James (my husband) bought me a Portacabin. But not just any Portacabin, a run down, mucky ex builders Portacabin......whilst it wasn't quite what I had in mind for my studio I didn't let the mucky appearance stand in my way.
My dad very kindly lent me his farm workers and my brother for a week to help renovate the cabin.
I was literally given 3 days notice that they were going to starting work on the cabin so I had to plan, organise and purchase all that I needed rather quickly. They stripped it all back, it was given a deep clean and then walls were boarded up, a fresh lick of paint, a new floor, electrics and water all connected and then it was time to start putting the finishing touches in place. So with some shelves added, some fabulous hexagonal shelves to show case my Hats, my Hiorns Hat sign put on display and there it was, that once mucky Portacabin became my Studio and Work Shop. It just goes to show you when you have a vision how you can make things happen.
From February I started doing two days a week millinery, building stock to start offering a hire service.
I was particularly focused on the Cheltenham Festival in mid March.
Cheltenham week was a great success with 11 hats and headbands sold or hired.
What a surprise to see one of my pieces had been snapped at the races and appeared on the Daily Mail online!
Sadly with lock down everything came to a sudden halt.
I used this time to work on the business in the background. I rebranded, designed a new logo, made updates to the website, had some professional photo's taken of my pieces, we also added decking to the studio which really finished off the external transformation.
Hiorns Hats has been open by appointment for hire, purchases and bespoke work over the last few months. Sadly with another lock down now in place our doors will be closed again until we are out of lock down.
You can still however purchase pieces and they can be posted out to you during lock down.
With any spare time that I have I'm working on new pieces. I have a number of Crowns and I have a selection of Fedora Hat's available so don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like me to send pictures of what stock is available for purchase.
Especially with Christmas looming you may well find the ideal piece that you'd like for Christmas.
Once we are out of lock down and events are back underway I look forward to welcoming you to the studio, where you can see the stock I have available for hire and purchase. The studio has a changing area which allows you to bring your outfit with you so you can try on and see which piece goes bet. It also helps if you're having a bespoke piece made for me to see your outfit and match the right colours and accessories.
There's also the exciting news that James and I are expecting the arrival of our second child in December.
I'm spending as much time as I can over the next few weeks working on new pieces before the baby arrives, I will of course keep you updated on when the baby has arrived and when I will be back up and running.
In the meantime don't hesitate to get in touch to discuss what pieces are available or to discuss a bespoke piece that you have in mind.
So finally to say STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, STAY HEALTHY!
