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Women.com presents

Milliner and Entrepreneur, Linda Campisano
Running your own business

August 3, 1999

Chicago-based milliner and entrepreneur, Linda Campisano, creates unique, contemporary hat designs for her store on Michigan Avenue using vintage, handcarved hat blocks. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton owns several Campisano originals.

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HomeArts: Victoria magazine welcomes Chicago- based milliner and entrepreneur, Linda Campisano. Linda creates unique, contemporary designs for her store on Michigan Avenue using vintage, handcarved hat blocks. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton owns several Campisano originals. Welcome Linda!

Linda Campisano: I'm excited to be here. It's a pleasure to be talking to everybody. Ready for questions!

Curious1: What inspired you to become a hat milliner?

Linda Campisano: Curious - I wanted to be a costume designer, and took some hat making courses at the Art Institute of Chicago. Everybody asked me where I got my hat when I would wear hats that I made, and then I thought, "Hmm, maybe I should start making hats". Then hat blocks came my way. I now have the largest collection in the world, over 5,000. That's a lot. I started selling to small boutiques, and they would keep on reordering. Then somebody gave me the J. Peterman catalogue. I put my boys in the car, drove to Kentucky, and showed them a couple of hats. They bought a design and ordered 250 hats that I made myself in the basement of my house! They sold out in 2 weeks and J. Peterman ordered 250 more. I had to make 500 hats, all the same hat! But that gave me enough working capital to open a little store. Then a year later I took over the store next to that store as my working space. Then I was gifted 4,000 hat blocks, and just this year I moved to Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The store is at 900 North Michigan, and my studio is on Chicago at Orleans in Chicago. I've gone from just doing everything myself to having three milliners and five sales people. I'm now enjoying being with VICTORIA magazine.

Samsmom: Do you consider yourself more of an artist who happens to work with head apparel, or a clothing designer?

Linda Campisano: Samsmom - An artist working with head apparel. But sometime in the near future, I want to design clothing.

Sharonm: Did you find it hard to break into the market place limiting yourself to hats?

Linda Campisano: Sharonm - No, not at all.

Startup: What did you find the most challenging part of starting your own business?

Linda Campisano: Startup - Finding the capital. That's the most challenging. And after that, the most challenging aspect of the business is finding the right retail help; someone who believes in the product and loves it as much as I do. I've been very fortunate of late and have found a great manager, which is freeing me up to do what I really want to do, design and travel and get my hats to more people.

OctaviaM: Did you give yourself a time line and say OK, I'll try this out for two years and if it's not where I want it to be I'll go back to my other career? Or did you just go for it?

Linda Campisano: Octavia - I tried that. But you can't do that, because fate steps in and you'll take a different turn in your business. That carries you to another level so you really can't put a timeline on building a business. There are going to be setbacks, and then there are huge pushes forward, so you just have to work hard.

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