ooGee - Hats for Bush, Beach and Beyond
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ooGee, pronounced 'ew-gee', was established in 2022 by businessman and headwear veteran, Peter Walcott, after years of planning to reinvigorate local manufacturing and ensure the future of traditional hat-making in Australia.
Paying respect to the indigenous people of our country, ooGee is an old Aboriginal term meaning headdress. Proudly Australian made and owned, each ooGee hat is inspired by and named after an iconic Australian waterway – Stoney Creek, Bombala and Barcoo River are among the designs.
Constructed using the brand's innovative Flexibraid® technology, ooGee hats never lose their shape and are water-safe, crush-resistant, and travel-friendly.
“As with most industries, certain marketing claims such as ‘crush-resistant’ or ‘travel-friendly’ are widely used throughout the category but we have yet to find a material, or a competitor, that compares to our proprietary Flexibraid® technology,” said Peter. “Experimenting with dozens of different yarns and filament combinations, my technicians and I sought to create a comfortable braid with natural handle and shape memory innovation when folded flat. The result was our lightweight, breathable, and highly resilient Flexibraid® which has become the gold standard in travel-friendly hats.”
Every ooGee style provides UPF50+ sun protection and to qualify they have been tested by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and use a material that blocks 90 per cent of the sun’s UV rays on all surfaces of the hat, including both the brim and the crown. The brim must also be of sufficient width to ensure appropriate shade for the face and neck.
ooGee hats are crafted with an internal ComfyFit size adjustment which allows the wearer to personalise their hat and find a fit that is comfortable and truly unique to them.
“While we give a creative nod to classic Australian styles, shapes, and colours, we wanted ooGee to transcend the concept of traditional bush headwear and provide a contemporary, breathable, and lightweight alternative to the heavy (and often impractical) felt designs we see on the market today,” said Peter.
Available nationally in a wide range of gender-neutral styles, colours and sizes.
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