Eugenia Kim

It was 1998 when a bad haircut led to a shaved head for New York-based hat designer Eugenia Kim. “It was winter, so I made some hats to wear and people started asking me where I got them,” she said sitting in her showroom. That’s what started it all — Eugenia Kim, one of New York’s most successful hat brands.

Today, almost all of Kim’s production is done in New York City. The designer works with eight factories here, in addition to employing 10 sewers who work in Kim’s studio.

“I like to be able to have control of the quality of the product and producing here makes that possible,” she said.

“I like to think that things that are made in New York have more life to them,” Kim stressed. “Maybe it’s because they haven’t been sitting on a boat for a month.”

Kim said that manufacturing in New York keeps the craft of designing alive. “I’m able to work with factories that specialize in the art of hat design, which is so important.”

While production costs in New York can be more expensive than those overseas, Kim said she saves money in other ways. “I don’t have big shipping bills and I’m able to fulfill re-orders in a day,” she explained. “And, just like the saying goes, time is money.”

Photography by Noa Griffel