It’s been a while since I last gave a shout-out to a crowdfunding project, so when I found out that a 25th Street Collective local hatter Elwyn Crawford of O’Lover Hats is launching an O’Lover Hats Indiegogo campaign #hatlocal, I just have to spread the word.
Elwyn Crawford has been making hats for almost a decade; her collections can be found at Goorin Bros in San Francisco. She won GenArt’s “Fresh Faces in Fashion” in 2008, and The Women’s Initiatives “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2011 for her focus on sustainable art economies that give back to the community.
Elwyn’s passion for hat-making has a close connection with her goal of maintaining a folk art that has played a significant role in the US history.
With this O’Lover Hats Indiegogo campaign, Elwyn want to expand existing business to accommodate a hatter’s apprenticeship program that will create more jobs in Oakland. In addition, funding will allow Elwyn to invest in more hatters’ tools and industrial steam technology, as well as new computer hardware and software for design prototyping and manufacturing.
And don’t forget about the awesome 25th Street Collective; it is a sustainable fashion incubator for local designers based in Oakland that also functions as a store-front. I just recently check out their Facebook page for numerous sneak peeks of what’s going on at 25C and I’m really happy that we are going there next weekend!
Would you help Elwyn’s vision to celebrate a folk art with locally produced, high quality hats that create healthy economies and thriving communities? Give her some love at O’Lover Hats Indiegogo campaign!
If you are unsure about O’Lovers Hats and its crowd funding mission (despite all the text that precedes this sentence), then please see the video below to convince yourself to donate to this noble cause. This video below convinced me, I hope it will convince you too:
O’Lover Hats: Think Global – Hat Local from rosie lila on Vimeo.
The indiegogo campaign runs through June 29 and at this moment it is still a loooooonggg way to go before reaching the goal, so let’s help Elwyn with her #hatlocal campaign!
Good luck Elwyn, and until next time,
Musank
Credits: Becca Henry Photography, Lauren Warner – MUA and model Lily Rose.