Bohemia Headwear was founded in 2005, after a friend told me there were not many nice hats on the market. That friend, an orthotic manager working for a large London hospital, told me about the struggle some of her patients faced when trying to find suitable headwear.
I was born in Brazil and taught by my mum to sew, a skill which has been very useful over the years. In my early thirties, living in the UK, I would often design and make dresses for family and friends, which was something I always enjoyed.
After being asked to help, I took on the challenge and started to make some easy-to-wear sleep caps and padded head scarves for some of her patients, many of whom were going through chemotherapy. What was initially something temporary became a huge success, and in 2008 my daughter Anita joined the business and we became a partnership. Anita comes from a background in business, IT and customer service, all of which are great assets.
It is stressful enough to lose your hair — looking for something to wear should not be an extra problem.
How our headwear is made
There is a large selection of hats and scarves available in the USA, where we import around 10% of our stock from. But we have been fortunate to have a team of ladies who make most of our headwear here in the UK. That gives us great flexibility in both the choice of fabrics and the design of our hats, and it means we can oversee production and individually check and pack every item we make. You can read more on our Made in the UK page.
A small team, on purpose
Anita and I work together all the time. We answer the phones, reply to all the emails, package the orders and post the parcels. Working in a small team may be tiring at times, but it has its advantages: we have full control of what happens at Bohemia, and it is easy to communicate because we share the same values for the business.
Our main priority from the beginning has been to provide complete customer satisfaction. We deal with people of different ages going through many difficult situations, and we really want you to have a stress-free experience when shopping with us.
Sometimes people call to find out more about a hat and end up telling Anita their stories and experiences. We have heard some amazing and truly inspirational ones. The best part is that we are making someone's life a little easier. One customer wrote to say she had never felt so confident in her entire treatment. Some people may say it is just a hat or a turban, but it is more than that — it is about offering good quality and helping people gain back their confidence. You can read more of these on our testimonials page.
Working with the NHS and cancer charities
We supply a number of NHS hospitals, hospices, cancer charities and wig suppliers, and we work alongside doctors, nurses and health practitioners who often call us to find the ideal hats and scarves for their patients. If that is you, please see our information for health professionals.
If anyone asks whether we like what we do, Anita and I would promptly reply: absolutely — it is a very rewarding experience.
Welcome to Bohemia Headwear.
Ida and Anita