Recently at the Richmond Field Days I ran in to Robin Strang - the lady who sells the most gorgeous Racewear Hats in North West Queensland ...
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| Robyn Strang and Kathy Moloney |
Over the years I've managed to accumulate 'a bit of a collection' of Robin's hats myself and even managed to win a Best Dressed and Most Innovative Category ... 'yes - twice !! ' ... {it was a shock to me too... } which I'm putting down to these fabulous accessories she makes. Our two daughters think they are now old enough to wear them {albeit slightly on the large side for their petit crowns}, but I gave in to them... I was just glad to see the vintage red Pierre Cardin and the floral fabric 'mad hatter style' both getting a lap out of it's storage space in the cupboard!
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| ... my lovely little red Pierre Cardin ! |
Robin's long time friend and business partner Kathy Moloney was with her this year in Richmond so I got to meet her and they very kindly agreed to be featured here on my blog.
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| Robin and Kathy having fun taking impromptu pics for me ... location ... Outback Australia |
1996 was when it all began. These two girls from outback Queensland got together and both with a love for fabric and fashion started creating hats for every occasion from cattle/sheep sales to garden parties.
A combination of their dynamic personalities and great style earned them the name '
Two Mad Hatters' which remains to this day.
Life moved the parters in different directions, so for a while Kathy opened a gift shop in Longreach {the kind you never want to leave } named "The House of Kanandah", while Robin moved north to Townsville {North Queensland} and continued on making beautiful hats, fascinators as well as children's and adult's fabric hats under the
'Two Mad Hatters' banner. This name has primarily become Robin's brand while Kathy operates under KJ Collections in
Wallumbilla {where she is based in South East Queensland}.
In the last couple of years Kathy has come back to making hats again. Robin says, " While Kath and I make slightly different styles, our clients keeping dragging us back to
our originals, we love them for that !!" Robin's designs incorporate blocking and sewing while Kathy's designs are primarily sewing.
Due to being 'geographically challenged" more than anything, the friends only come together a couples times a year now. "We decided that the Richmond Field days would be much more fun to share the work load and we
love each other's company". I can attest to that - they were a lot of fun to be around - their laughter and enthusiasm for life was infectious.
As great friends do, they've spent many years travelling together and have many stories of their own as well as a
few that have been written about them. Kathy most recently was featured on
Compass - click here for the interview and Robin - in a book
Lifting the Lid on Quiet Achievers by Kerrie Phipps.
Thank you Robin and Kathy and we look forward to many more of your gorgeous designs to come ...
~ contact details ~
Robin Strang ~ The Two Mad Hatters
Website
Facebook
email: madhat2@bigpond.com
Kathy Moloney
KJ Collections
Facebook
email: houseofkanandah@bigpond.com
