Patrick Campion's 'it' hat company with heart
Designer Patrick Campion wanted to create cool merch for Saratoga — and give back to a charity close to his heart.
Patrick Campion’s new local business has all of Saratoga’s top attributes covered — it’s hip, entrepreneurial and generous.
“Saratoga's such a supportive community for entrepreneurs and businesses,” says Campion, 36, who lives Downtown and launched Saratoga Hat Company in April. “The Chamber of Commerce alone has helped catapult my business and reach a visibility that I never could have done on my own.”
Indeed, the Delmar native’s Saratoga Hat Company has certainly made waves. Jockey (and new Netflix star) Katie Davis posted to Instagram raving about the hats’ designs and quality — and promoting her collab with the brand. King’s Tavern and Crafters Gallery sell the trucker hats, you might have see him at the Farmer’s Market, and he’s even been featured on Channel 13 with Saratogian Mark Mulholland.
In addition to his cool, unisex aesthetic — more than a dozen classic and vintage styles that range from unique horse racing designs and Upstate New York shout-outs, to funny depictions of, say, a horse driving a speedboat on Saratoga Lake — Campion has struck a chord with his generous donations to Project Purple.
The financial whiz, whose day job is in budget analysis for NASA, had been living in Central Florida since the pandemic but returned home to the Capital Region last year when his mom, Kathy, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While home with family during her courageous battle, Campion learned first-hand about caring for a Stage IV cancer patient.
“It was a quick decline,” he says. “You go, ‘Okay, let's make this person as comfortable as possible for their remaining time. Project Purple will send blankets, help pay for food for the family, do things to keep the person's spirits up. I wish I had known about them when my mom was going through it, so I do a monthly donation now and donate hats to fundraisers.”Campion started working on his designs last year, surrounded by family.
“Since my job is data intensive, I wanted something on the side where I could let my creative energy go,” he says. “I've always liked collecting hats. When I'm on a trip, I always hit a merch store and if I see a hat, I'm always like, ‘Oh, I gotta have that.’ I thought that Saratoga had so many design ideas to run with, so I started sketching. I’ve since hired a really good graphic design company, but I’m having so much fun with it all.”
In addition to Crafters Gallery and King’s Tavern, all of Saratoga Hat Company’s hats can be purchased online saratogahats.com.
This exciting Positively Saratoga news is brought to you by our friends at the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
Just bought a Saratoga Golden!
From this article? That’s so great — I’ll look that one up!