VALUES
PASSION
All team members are working with passion and motivation together with the craftsmen and suppliers. We all value the materials, shapes and techniques used in the different creations.
MULTICULTURALITY
We are an international team collaborating with craftsmen and customers from around the world. Everyday we learn about each other’s cultural difference. Respect and communication are crucial in a successful multicultural collaboration.
CARE
MY BOB cares for quality of the accessories as well as its services. Each finished creation is checked with a fine eye before on time delivery. Human relationships and trust are essential for the quality of MY BOB.
SUSTAINABILITY & RESPONSABILITY
MY BOB team is doing its best to respect the people and the environment. We are sensible to the selection of the raw materials used in the different creations. We use wool felt instead of fur felt, the hat boxes are being replaced by reusable bags. Our feathers used in the fine brooches get a second chance as we up-cycle them after passing by farms serving the food industry. the embroidered brooches use recycled materials as well. It is a mindset and business decision.
TEAM
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Anne
Creation is her definition. Anne from Paris, will definitely make your day more colourful.
Geoffroy
Positive and smiling, you will never spend the same day twice with Geoffroy. He loves his work more than croissant.
TARZAN
Real motivation at work, Tarzan brings joy while barking at people when they don't smile enough.
JULIETTE
With her brother Tarzan, they are as cute as possible. They make work everyday even more pleasant.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
It was the summer of 2010. Belgian life-enthusiast Geoffroy Moreels was looking for a new venture and great adventures. That’s when the Panama hat called to him. It was love at first sight. Very soon, Geoffroy was embracing all types of headwear, from fedoras to caps and trilbies to berets, and travelled near and far in search of the finest materials and the greatest artisans.
Across our beautiful planet, connections were made and friendships developed. And so MY BOB was born. A colourful Belgian brand that mixes originality with traditions from the over the world. Every stitch, weave and fold of a MY BOB accessory tells a story of skill and attention to detail. Its Panama hats are handmade in Ecuador, straw hats, caps, feathers and macramé are crafted in Italy, feather brooches are fashioned in Germany while all embroidery is carried out in India.
Constantly evolving, MY BOB will always be inspired by people and places. Fully customisable with a generous range of handmade ribbons, brooches, feathers, key rings and bags, MY BOB covers your head and uncovers your style.
CRAFTSMANSHIP
We are so proud to collaborate with different craftsmanship around the world. The diversity is a strength. We visited all our workshops and trust the craftsmen.
The quality of our accessories is the result of hard working and meticulousness.
FELT HEADWEAR
First one workshop produces the felt hat body and a second team shapes and decorates it into a hat. The style if the felt hat will define the workshop we work with.
It takes between 9 to 12 days to handcraft felt. The felt is a difficult material to work with. It is a tough fabric made of fibbers that are linked in all directions with each other unlike most of fabrics.
The fine fur felt, from Portugal, provides a very soft touch for the more quality headwear which we elaborate in Spain. Since our first collection we work together with the Spanish workshop.
They are specialized in classic high-quality headwear and produce for the best brands around the world. From the shaping to the final decoration, all the steps are mainly managed by a team of motivated women that sing traditional songs during their breaks.
For the more fantasy and fashion felt headwear, often wool felt headwear, we work together with a more fashionable Italian workshop. The Italians have a fine sense for colors, shape and fantasy. Fashion is in their genes. The LOVE Leopard hat or the dotted FOLCO are two typical creations we create with them.
STRAW HEADWEAR
MY BOB' first collection was created together with the panama hat weavers in Ecuador. It has been more than 10 years now that we are travelling to Cuenca or Montecristi to create new models, weave- and dying technics.
The hat became associated with Panama while President Roosevelt was visiting the construction of the Panama Canal in 1906. He received an Ecuadorian straw hat as a gift. Without knowing the true origin, the American president thanked his guests for he gift mentioning is as a "Panama Hat" and wore such a hat, which increased its popularity.
We know today that the "Panama Hat" is hand woven in Ecuador with the secrets for the elaboration of the hat passing from generation to generation. It takes between one week and 6 months to weave one hat depending on the thickness of the straw fibre.
Each hat is unique and totally artisanal.
The other more fashionable headwear made with Florence straw, Panama paper, Milanese breaded straw or more sophisticated materials are realised in Italy, the country where fashion and craftsmanship has no secrets.
Each hat is unique and totally artisanal.
FEATHER BROOCHES
MY BOB feather brooches are realised in Germany. The fine feathers are crafted by an Italian atelier which is collaborating with creative designers for over 50 years.
The feathers are chosen according to their type, dimension and colour. After being washed and disinfected, they are dyed, trimmed and painted with delicacy.
The ready feathers are travelling to Germany to be assembled with care by craftswomen in a workshop that exists since 1923. This traditional German profession is very famous as feather brooches were worn on country hats.
Some finishes of the feather brooch are carried out with nail. The work of feather is a manual craft of great precision. No machine can reproduce it.
Upcycling &
Respect for Nature
Our feathers get a second chance as we up-cycle them after passing by farms serving the food industry. They are delicately selected and collected to offer the best quality in the best possible conditions.
No feathers are used from protected or endangered birds but only from farmed animals. Our suppliers work in accordance with The Washington Convention which allows a better control of commercial trade on specific species.
EMBROIDERED BROOCHES
India is a world to visit and also a treasure of craftsmanship. We have the pleasure to work with the famous regional embroiderers mastering various technics of hand embroidery.
Together with the workshop responsible, Anne develops the creations.
The used techniques and styles are defined by the moodboard and designs.
You want to give more volume with the French knots, more colours with the sparkling beads or richness with the Cathy knots.
Recycling
The realisation of the creations is a combination of the designs of Anne, the embroidery techniques mastered by the workshop chief and the available materials on the market.
Often, we use recycled materials from local markets in our embroideries such as fabrics, glass or metallic objects.
MACRAME & PASSEMENTERIE
MY BOB macramé or passementerie creations are realised by very talented Italian artisans.
Together with the workshop responsible, the creative director Anne, develops the fine colourful accessories. It is a combination of her mood board and drawings, the macramé techniques mastered by the workshop chief and the chosen materials.
Ribbons from the headwear are recycled in the development of some creations.
MY BOB macramé is totally handmade which makes it unique.
Macramé is a particular knotting technique long crafted by sailors to realise a type of textile. It appeared during the 13th century in the Middle East, then was transported to Spain and travelled around Europe.
The macrame is giving a temper to MY BOB key-rings.