Damien Henning is a well-travelled man. He has been exploring this fantastic planet on several mammoth backpacking trips anywhere from 3 to 12 months long, visiting 73 countries (and counting!) along the way.

A sunhat was always an essential piece off equipment in his global odyssey, but he was never quite satisfied with any of the varieties he tried. They all seemed to have major flaws in different weather conditions and travel circumstances. Most importantly, he wondered why nobody had ever made one with a stiff yet shape-able brim – a feature that would exponentially improve the hat’s portability and resilience.

So he decided to make his dream sunhat himself. The design challenges he faced along the way soon made it clear why nobody had undertaken this monumental task yet! Nonetheless, he kept plugging away, making several versions and improving each one over the last.

Damien knew he was on to something when other travelers started asking him “Where did you get that sunhat? I’d love to get one!” He could only reply “Sorry, I made it myself.”

Unwilling to disappoint any more would-be customers, Damien took the plunge and decided to make his business dream a reality.

Since designing the first Shape Flexer sunhat in 2006, Damien has educated himself in design and manufacturing, tested hundreds of types of wire and cable/coating combinations and made multiple trips to Asia to hand-pick fabrics and patterns in pursuit of the perfect, all-purpose, all-weather sunhat.

By June 2017, Damien had perfected his design. Now, it was time to test the market for the Shape Flexer and raise the money to go and make it. Damien set up two crowdfunding campaigns – first on Kickstarter and then on Indiegogo. These campaigns were a resounding success and raised over $300,000 combined!

Thanks to the confidence and support of thousands of individual funders, Damien has been able to follow through on his vision for the all-purpose, all-weather sunhat that folds together for convenient portability.