Waikato Business News July/August 2022

6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JULY/AUGUST 2022
Labour of wild is a labour of love
Raglan local Lisa Uphill always knew there was something
creative she wanted to pursue as a career and couldn’t quite
find her groove until hat-making came along.
It was a birthday gift from
her partner Tom to attend
a hat-making tutorial that
set the wheels in motion and
landed Lisa her dream job.
“Monika Neuhauser
(Pirongia-based milliner)
taught me how to make a hat,
and since then I have been
obsessed. I’ve spent every spare
hour that I have researching
hat-making and refining my
craft because I just love it so
much.”
That hat-making tutorial
was a little over a year ago and
since then Lisa has made over
30 hats and another 10 are in
production.
“I’ve traded in the Netflix
for hatting,” she laughs. “I definitely
feel the pull to come here
(her studio) and potter with the
hats.”
It was friends who made up
the first of her customers but as
her social media following has
grown, so too has her customer
base, including a client in New
York.
“I'm so grateful to the people
who have supported me by
ordering hats and showing me
love on social media...it literally
keeps me going.”
Lisa’s boutique hat-making
business Labour of Wild
is based in her Raglan home
where all the magic of bringing
someone’s dream hat to life
takes place.
It is here that she starts the
process off with a client consult;
every hat Lisa designs and
makes is not only a piece of art,
it also fits like a glove.
A tool called a conformer,
which looks a bit like an instrument
of torture, measures the
exact contour of the hat wearer’s
head. As Lisa points out
there are universal head sizes
but much like a fingerprint, a
person’s head will have its own
unique contour.
This is one of the points of
difference in a hat that Lisa
makes; once finished and atop
the wearer’s head it will feel like
it’s meant to be there.
The 34-year-old calls herself
a hat maker not a milliner.
Lisa Uphill
The hats she makes are similar
to the traditional fedora
or western hat typically worn
by men, but as fashion dictates
they have become popular
with women over the past few
decades as well.
“I consider myself to be a
hat maker because I don't make
fascinators and what, typically,
were women's hats.”
Using rabbit, or sometimes
the more expensive beaver
felt, a hat takes Lisa around 15
hours to construct.
As well as being made to
fit like a glove, Lisa spends
time during the client consult
talking about the design and
each hat becomes a one-of-akind
heirloom piece with little
flourishes to capture the wearer’s
style.
Like the beautiful olivegreen
hat that has a swashbuckler
design etched in the top for a
client who loves pirates, or the
ivory wedding hat for the bride
adorned with the shell used by
the groom to pop the question.
Each hat is so stunning they
could easily be displayed as artwork
when not being worn.
Like many young entrepreneurs
these days, Lisa understands
the importance of having
an online presence to
market her brand.
Not only did her partner
Tom gift the hat-making tutorial
that ignited Lisa’s hatting
passion, he is also the creative
behind Labour of Wild branding
and website.
Being a creative with a
graphic design background
Lisa says she was a tough customer
but she put her faith in
his vision for the brand.
“Tom has his design agency,
which is a huge help to me. I'm
aware of how lucky I am. It’s
very professional looking and
I have Tom to thank for that.
I know how hard it is at the
beginning for a small business
to afford to get a decent looking
website and branding.”
In a short space of time Lisa
set about purchasing the tools
she needed to make great hats.
“I just knew from the offset
that this was my thing. I was
pretty quick to pour a lot of my
savings into buying the equipment
so that I could make life
easier and do a good job. I've
been saving for a long time and
I spent probably half of my life
savings on all the equipment.
It wasn't cheap but it was an
investment.”
Sourced from overseas, the
fur felt starts out as a rough
hat body which Lisa transforms
using traditional hat-making
methods involving heat, steam,
pressure and fire.
One of the first tools she
purchased was a steam iron
used to saturate the hat with
steam to stretch the felt over
the hat blocks.
“I started out with a household
iron and it’s possible to get
by with household tools but it’s
more labour intensive.”
She has also replaced a
wooden spoon with a fancy tool
aptly named a pusher downer
which gives the brim crease a
sharp definition.
“It's a very Kiwi thing to be
resourceful. Kiwis just seem
to know how to do everything
with what they have available,
especially in small towns. So,
I took on a bit of that and just
tried to make do with whatever
I could to begin with.”
Originally from the UK, Lisa
and Tom came to Aotearoa in
2015 with their backpacks and
very little else.
They came with the intention
of making Raglan their
home. Tom’s design agency
HNDRX is set up to work
remotely. Lisa started work-
ing for a local electrician where
she is still part-timer but hatting
has definitely become a
full-time occupation. Not that
Lisa’s complaining, she knows
she’s found her ‘thing’. It’s
what wakes her up in the morning
and what she goes to sleep
thinking about.
“When my friends ring or
visit they know I’ll be in my studio,”
she laughs.
The name Labour of Wild
was born from a brainstorming
session with Tom to evoke the
feeling of it being a labour of
love, and Lisa says, the amount
of manual labour that goes into
the craft. ‘Wild’ conjures up
the endless design possibilities
with each hat being wildly
unique.
“A hat is a great vehicle for
self-expression and it's wild in
the sense that it's not the norm.
It's such an honour to be able
to keep this age-old craft alive
and I am so lucky to be rubbing
shoulders with Raglan's talented
creative types, it's such
an inspiring community.”
Mercury and Hikotron
partner on nationwide
EV charging network
Mercury is supporting
Hamilton start-up
Hikotron in its
rollout of a New Zealand-made
smart AC charging network
for electric vehicles. Hikotron
have rolled out several 7kW
AC destination chargers
throughout the Waikato region
and are planning to expand
nationwide, starting with 500
public charge points by 2026.
Mercury general manager
sustainability Lucie Drummond
says in New Zealand a
lot of the early focus has been
on public fast DC charging to
minimise ‘black spots’ in the
country’s charging network.
“In more mature overseas
markets around 80% of public
chargers are slower AC
units at locations where people
naturally park, for example
near retail, hospitality, business
hubs, apartment buildings,
master-planned communities,
off-street parking sites
and community facilities.
“We believe there’s great
potential for destination AC
charging in New Zealand’s
charging ecosystem and love
Hikotron’s focus on designing
their hardware robustly
for public spaces. It’s a great
reflection of the local talent we
have right here at home, with
the entire design and build of
their high-tech chargers and
supporting mobile app being
done here in New Zealand.”
Mercury’s partnership with
Hikotron is for an initial threeyear
period and considers
electricity supply, joint brand
and marketing and broader
EV charging initiatives. The
partnership will also explore
opportunities to streamline the
charging experience for Mercury
customers.
“Renewable electricity is
New Zealand’s competitive
advantage. We’re excited to
play a role in supporting New
Zealand’s low carbon transition,
including by making
e.transport more accessible
through wonderful partnerships
like this,” Drummond
says.
Hikotron director Stephanie
O’Callaghan says the
Hikotron team are excited
about the partnership with
Hikotron co-founders Larry Muijiwijk,
Ron Smits and Stephanie O’Callaghan.
Mercury and delivering EV
charging across the country.
“We plan to roll out our cutting-edge
technology throughout
the country, giving EV
owners the confidence to travel
from destination to destination
knowing they can charge their
vehicle upon arrival.
“The charger design is
based on learnings from
proven European infrastructure,
with further design and
high-tech improvements
including two pending patents
that address common EV
charging infrastructure pain
points. Hikotron is vertically
integrated allowing for rapid
response in maintenance, continuous
research and development,
and an investment that
remains in New Zealand.”
On average a 1-hour 7kW
charge at a Hikotron charger
provides 45km of range.
Future sites will have a mixture
of 22kW and 7kW chargers
to suit different lengths of
stay and vehicle types.
The Hikotron charger is
designed specifically for public
spaces and incorporates
Type 2 sockets which allow all
EVs to connect and charge.
This design is recommended
by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency for public AC charging
as it avoids tethered cables
which are susceptible to damage
and other safety issues.
EV drivers can download
the Hikotron mobile app from
Google Play or Apple Store.
They use the app to scan the
QR code on the charger, plug
in their vehicle, and then tap
on ‘Start charge’. The cable is
locked in until the user taps on
‘End charge’.
The Hikotron app also
enables users to locate an
available charger nearby, monitor
how much power is being
drawn while charging, and
make payments.