A Custom Approach to Charleston Fashion: Holy City Hats
By Rebekah McCubbins
For Hayley and Emily, the duo behind Charleston fashion brand Holy City Hats, starting a business together was an organic extension of their friendship. In fact, the idea came to them while traveling together. “We went to our best friend’s wedding in San Miguel, Mexico. Everybody was coming home with these custom hats; there were these little shops that were all over the streets there,” Emily explains. On their way home, they realized, “this would be great for Charleston. People local that live [here], but also being a tourist city.”
The concept behind Holy City Hats is simple: custom-designed hats made using quality materials, while maintaining an affordable price point for their clients. They work from their home studio for online orders, as well as participating in local pop-up events and booking private, exclusive events.
Each person they work with has a unique style and vision, and Emily and Hayley love the collaborative nature of their process. “A lot of our ideas have sprung from actual requests from others,” Hayley says. Emily echoes this sentiment, sharing the story of a custom hat they created for Brian, guitarist for Charleston band The Midnight City: “he sent us some [examples] that he really liked, [which] gave us some ideas. We also used some inspiration unique to him. We sewed into the hat one of his guitar picks and hand burned their band’s logo onto the bottom.” Beyond learning from each new custom order, they also get inspiration in their daily lives. “We could be walking around and see a material, and go, ‘oh my gosh, that could be really cool on a hat,’ or ‘we should really try doing something like that on a hat,” Hayley shares.
Charleston is more than just the inspiration behind their name. For Emily and Hayley, Holy City Hats wouldn’t exist without ‘The Holy City.’ It’s where they met, in the gym they both attended. And as Hayley puts it, “I grew up here, in a way. I came here when I was 24. I’ve been here seven years now, and I really do feel I’ve built my life here. It was a time when I really became independent and built a life for myself. So I definitely have a connection here.” Emily feels the same, sharing, “I didn’t grow up here, but my whole adult life has been here. Becoming an adult, becoming independent. Going through different career paths. Taking risks,” she explains.
The two had no background in fashion prior to founding Holy City Hats. Hayley works in radiation therapy, and says that with her current employer, “I now do mostly travel into clinics, and work from home when not.” Emily spent 10 years teaching in Charleston County and Berkeley County schools, and now works in graphic design for an education company. While their career experiences diverge significantly from the work they do in their business, their shared passion for creativity has helped them become successful entrepreneurs.
But that doesn’t mean that starting a business has been easy. The two aren’t afraid to share the challenges of entrepreneurship, including the unique pressures of being a women-owned business. “It feels almost more important, because you’re representing women and trying to break that glass ceiling. We’re trying to be a good example,” Hayley says. “And we really do like to take on everything and do it all ourselves, which I think is really good–to show you don’t have to have other people to run your business successfully. Any time we think we don’t know something, or it’s something new, we try to educate ourselves and do it ourselves, and know when to ask for help.” Emily says that owning a business is “a learning experience. You’re trying to research and empower yourself to learn those tools. But we’ve also learned that there are so many people out there, too, who want to help you.”
Hayley and Emily are excited for the future of Holy City Hats. “Steady, slow growth” is the goal, Hayley says. “We have been blessed to be invited to a lot of different events, and opportunities [that have allowed us to] spread our branches in different things. I would love to be able to do that more. We love what we do in our 9-to-5 jobs, so just being able to grow our business and still keep that balance is important to us.” Emily shares that uplifting the community through mentorship is another important goal for their company: “Once we get to a point where we want to take on more customers, possibly getting someone who’s in high school or college, interested in running their own business, or wants to learn more about marketing,” is a part of their plan for the future. They’re also excited to take on more private events, where Hayley says a group can be “a much bigger part of making their hats than when someone comes to a pop-up.” They encourage anyone interested in collaborating to reach out.
You can find Holy City Hats online at holycityhats.com or on Instagram at @holycityhats_chs.
