JAX Hats, Unique Recycled Wears, Missoula MT

JAX Hats

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JAX Story

Jax hats was born 3 years ago. Designer Jackie Priess wanted to make a cute hat for her two daughters, Adrienne and Bethany Priess. When taking some sweaters to the local Goodwill she decided one of the sweaters was too lovely to part with and decided it needed to be turned into a hat for her girls. After breathing new life into the sweater and all her daughter's friends raving about how cute the hats were JAX hats business was born. Starting out at local craft show and home parties JAX is now becoming an international brand with women, men, children and babies all rockin these stylish recycled hats. JAX mission is to save the world from ugly sweaters one hat at a time!

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Womens

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Infant/Toddler

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Contact

Please e-mail us with any questions, comments or to find out more information about our product.

Contacts

Creater/Designer/CEO

Jackie Priess 546-8011

Vice President

Paul Priess 544-9507

Marketing Director/

Sales Rep

Bethany Priess 546-4982

JAX Party Planner/Model

Adrienne Priess 546-3030

Stores

Missoula Locations

Upcycled "A salvaged chic boutique"

Rockin Rudy's

Green Light

Sorella's Day Spa

McClarren's

Artist Shop

Other Locations

Fawn-Kalispell,MT

Cello-Bozeman, MT

Freyed Sew-Helena, MT

Natures Karma-Carmel,IN

Host a Party

Want to host a Jax Party?

Gather your girlfriends and get ready for a fun evening of modeling JAX hats!

As a Host you will recieve

A Free JAX Hat as a hostess gift

Earn unlimited free JAX merchandise based on how much your guests buy. You earn a portion of what your guests spend in free merchandise.

Want more than just hats at your party...

We have handmade Jewelry designed and created by Bethany and Adrienne Priess.

Pill Green Friendly

Recycle, Resuse, Repurpose

These hats are a green friendly product made from a variety of recycled materials including: sweaters, men's wear, t-shirts, skirts, jackets and more. These items are given a second life as a new and trendy JAX hat. The hats are then embellished with handmade buttons made from polymer clay which are designed then glazed with epoxy and drilled. Each JAX logo is hand embroidered and the finished product is ready to be adored.

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Articles

Missoulian

Missoulian Newspaper

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Missoula Startup Turns Old Sweaters into Unique Headwear

By JENNA CEDERBERG of the Missoulian | Posted: Saturday, December 24, 2011 10:30 pmPaul and Jackie Priess' line of Jax Hats have become popular in Missoula and surrounding cities. The short visor hats are made from recycled pieces of clothing, and no two hats are the same.A creator and crafter her whole life, Jackie Priess' most popular project to date involves saving the world from ugly sweaters.The Missoula resident is founder of Jax Hats, a line of short visor boutique beanies made from recycled, pieced-together portions of old sweaters. Each is fitted with a bright button and stitched with the JAX signature.When you see a Jax hat, you don't think Bill Cosby.Priess' handmade hats have turned one-time fashion faux pas into the latest fashion craze in Missoula. The hats have become so popular that the entire family is involved in running the Jax business.Priess' husband, Paul, is a full-time sewer. Their daughters, Bethany and Adrienne, do marketing for the business. Jax Hats retail from $35 to $46, depending on the vendor. The hats are sold in 10 stores around Missoula and several in surrounding cities. The Priess family also has a permanent table at the People's Market."It's been really fun watching it grow," Priess said last week, sitting with Paul in the Apricot Lane Boutique of Southgate Mall. Jax Hats are one of the store's more popular items.Creating things has always been a part of the Priess family.Priess sewed her first dress at age 8. She put together her first hat pattern when she was in high school, where she met Paul. They've been married for 37 years. Paul is a creator, too. One of his first gifts to Priess was a handmade leather barrett.Priess continued to craft and sew throughout her career as a dental hygienist. She now works at Missoula Youth Homes. In 2007, Priess noticed a poster announcing a clothing designer contest at Missoula's Selvedge Studios.Priess entered a line of clothing, made her way through the weekly eliminations and won the contest. Pieces of her clothing line were sold at Betty's Divine and Sotto Voce.***During her time in those stores, Priess noticed "cute hats" had become popular and decided to dig out her old hat pattern. She cut up a few ugly sweaters she had laying around and after making a few changes to the original pattern, sewed a hat for daughter Adrienne.Priess quickly sold 20 more to Adrienne's friends, and Jax Hats became hits at markets and craft shows."At first, Paul thought when we sold a hat to everyone in Missoula, we'd be done," Priess said. But demand has only increased. "It's kind of like potato chips, you buy one and you want another."When Paul was laid off from his job in 2008, it opened up more time to help with the family business. Not only has he become the main sewer for Jax Hats, he has his own "Silver Smitten" line of jewelry made from recycled forks.The popularity of the hats is especially apparent at the summer outdoor markets in downtown Missoula."That's the fun part, at the market talking to people," Paul said. "I call (the hats) the feel-good fashion accessory. Everyone who wears one has people stop them on the street and ask where they can get one."Combinations of different patterns and fabrics turn ugly into unique. No one hat is the same.Each hat sports a handmade button the couple makes with polymer clay. Some hats have bows, others have flowers, other have crosses stitched in by Priess. Pieces of upholstery are used to complete some looks.Jax has added men's wear selections, too, that include solid color hats without buttons. Priess also makes "Warm Memories" Jax Hats for customers using a loved one's sweater or clothing.Jackie finishes each hat with a few hand stitches, spelling "JAX" on the right side just above the brim.***What was a longtime nickname has now turned into a brand name.The Jax inventory at Apricot Lane flys off the racks, said store manager Linda Yovetich."People come in and they say, Where are your Jax?' Not Jax Hats,' " Yovetich said.Customers love that the hats are locally made from recycled materials, and "they're adorable. I've already sent my buyer a note saying we need more," Yovetich said.The couple sells up to 400 hats a month in the busy seasons. Paul sews full time on one of eight surgers in their house. Priess' friend Boni Braunbeck sews part time for Jax."We live in (a) factory," Priess said.To keep up with demand, Paul is also now an ugly sweater buyer as well. He hits the thrift stores and Priess goes to garage sales to find good pieces to transform into hats. Stores like Apricot Lane donate unsellable pieces to Priess so she can transform them into hats.The income from the business has replaced what they lost when Paul was laid off. Priess plans to keep her job at Missoula Youth Homes but will continue to grow the business on evenings and weekends.Bethany, Priess' oldest daughter, recently moved to San Diego and is beginning to market the hats there. The idea is to get Jax sold across the world.Wherever the business goes from here, Priess wants to keep the hats locally made, creating jobs for local people."Once Nordstroms picks them up, we'll have to add staff," she said. Copyright 2011 missoulian.com. All rights reserved. Read more: http://missoulian.com/business/local/missoula-startup-turns-old-sweaters-into-unique-headwear/article_47680d68-2dbb-11e1-ad38-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1hxamD7eT

Make It Missoula

Make it Missoula

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Maiden Missoula Product Review

Posted August 1, 2011

By LEAH LEWISI know this may be a shocker, but the Maiden does, in fact, have a bad hair day every so often. Instead of fighting this minor inconvenience I have learned to embrace it, and sometimes even hope for it, for the convenient excuse to don a chic and eco-responsible Jax Hat! Stitched with love from old sweaters and re-gifted sweatshirts, and adorned with one-of-a-kind buttons and found object embellishments, Jax Hats are addictive and functional fashion. Its recycled fabric made into the cutest handmade hats youll find anywhere.I first fell in love with Jax Hats while having brunch on the deck of the Old Post Pub a few years ago with one of my besties, Natalie. She was sporting a slouchy but stylish hat that I immediately coveted. She directed me to scope out the Saturday Morning Peoples Market to find my own.I should have picked up a few within days my new favorite handmade accessory was on the head of my tween daughter. It was then I learned: One can never have enough Jax Hats. (In fact, they have been referred to as Jax Crack in certain circles.) True story, you can actually get a Buy ten, get one free punchcard at the Peoples Market!If you dont have one yet, there is no need to wait until Saturday anymore. Jackie Priess and her family crank out dozens of Jax Hats every month to keep up with Missoulas insatiable appetite. And they arent just for the gals, guys are rocking the eco-friendly hats as well!They come in every size from baby and up and you can find your own at our favorite boutiques: Upcycled on the Hip Strip, Apricot Lane, The Green Light, Rockin Rudys, and even shops in Kalispell are carrying them now. The Ranch Club golf course has custom-ordered them in the past and you will see a sea of Griz-inspired Jax Hats at every tailgate party. And if you are from out of town and trying to blend in with the locals you cant go wrong with a Patagonia Fleece, Dansko clogs, and your own one of a kind Jax Hat!Like this Maiden Missoula product review? Chances are youll like learning about these Made In Missoula products: Zootown Arts Community Center, Made In Missoula Wedding Gifts, and Flexsolate Gym in a Bag. Please let us know if you have your own Made in Missoula productsuse the facebook comment section below and be sure to click +1 on this blog

Mamalode Magazine

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Contest winner of Favorite Mom Owned Business

Jackie Priess of Jax HatsThursday, December 16th, 2010 in ContestsJax Hats was born 3 years ago after many labor pains and wrong paths followed to create a sustainable business venture that allowed me both creativity and cash flow. It began after receiving a pair of upcycled mittens made from felted wool sweaters that my sister in law gave me for Christmas. The wheels started turning and I thought why not hats? I was taking a load of clothing to Goodwill and rescued a particularly beautiful sweater from the heap, and the first Jax Hat was born using a pattern that I had used when I was in High School many years ago. I gave it to my daughter, and when her friends started gushing over it, I made more, and the story continues.After the hats started to gain popularity by selling at local craft shows and the Peoples Market, I realized that I couldnt keep up with the demand. My husband had recently been laid off and finding himself bored, so I put him to work cutting the sweaters for me. After a few weeks of this, I took it to the next step and taught him the basics of sewing. Now he designs many of the hats himself, and has become quite adept and marketing them at the shows.My daughter Bethany recently graduated from the U of M with a Business/ Marketing degree, so she has recently become the Marketing Manager for Jax Hats and we are currently located in 8 stores in Missoula and 4 in other areas including Carmel, Indiana. She has redesigned my website for visual appeal as well as ease, and has plans to move us across the globe!My other daughter, Adrienne is my main model, as well as party planner for the house parties that we do, and has recently started with the sewing production as well.I do this business, because it has become an addiction, seeing the old clothing transformed into something fun and functional. Working at the markets has become such an ego boost to hear people exclaim how they LOVE my hats! I love the upcycling aspect, and am constantly thinking outside the box to see what else I can use. All of my buttons are handmade by me from polymer clay and that along with the distinctive JAX.Learn more about Jax Hats

Missoulian
Make It Missoula
Mamalode Magazine