Artisan-crafted hats from Mexico take centerstage at LoveShackFancy trunk show in Palm Beach

Tinsley Merrill was on vacation in San José Del Cabo, Mexico, when some unique palm hats caught her eye.

The CEO of Support HerStory — a curated collection of luxury items from female-founded brands — soon met Isabel Andrade, the woman behind the Corazón Playero (which means beach heart) hats and quickly knew "we needed to bring her into our marketplace."

During the two-day Corazón Playero Trunk Show from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at LoveShackFancy, Palm Beachers will get to see the hats that so impressed Merrill.

The hats, she said, are hand-made and "hand-embroidered by artisans in Mexico with unique one of a kind designs."

Merrill said her team first worked with LoveShackFancy for the opening of their Miami store in October when they connected the store owners with Andrade.

Palm Beach fashion: LoveShackFancy brings Victorian-era dresses to the island

Luxury consignment store debuts in Palm Beach:5 things to know its first shoppable location

"We spent months with the LoveShack team coming up with exclusive designs that were Loveshack-inspired," Merrill said. Think florals, pinks, hearts, and bows. The hats flew off the shelves for the Miami store opening event, which had three artisan painters on hand to customize, she said.

The success of the Miami collaboration led to an invitation to do the trunk show here, Merrill said. Andrade will be there and it will feature exclusive designs for Palm Beach customers "and we'll have embroiderers on site ... and a painter to do initials and designs."

There also will be a complementary customization bar on site with a hand painter from le Artisan Studio and a hand embroiderer from SBT Stitches.

Available hats are: Corazón Bebe (ages 4 and younger), Corazón Mini Fedora (ages: 4 and older), Corazón LSF Inspired Palm Hats and LoveShackFancy Recycled Braids.

All the hats at the pop up are customized for the LoveShackFancy event and can only be purchased on site, Merrill said. Prices range from $145 to $350.

Support HerStory was founded during the pandemic in a move to help struggling small businesses owned by women, Merrill said.

Merrill, sister Brittany Merrill Underwood and friend Whitney Rowell all were small business owners in Texas at the start of 2020. Merrill, founder of Pairr Experience, which she describes as an experiential marketing platform, said the nature of her business meant she had a hard time shifting gears when the pandemic hit.

Underwood is the founder of Akola, a luxury jewelry line that works with women in Uganda to handcraft items that are sold in Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, Merrill said. Akola, which means “she works” in a local Ugandan dialect, currently supports 250 woman who are learning about finances and how to start their own businesses and become leaders, she said.

Rowell is the founder of Miracle Milk Cookies, a lactation cookie for moms who are breastfeeding.

When the pandemic hit, the women pondered their options and decided to start a curated subscription box. "We originally talked about launching the company in April 2020 and within four weeks it was launched," Merrill said.

The goal of going with a curated box was to get women entrepreneurs who were struggling to get their products into people's hands.

"We realized that the best way for these female-led businesses to survive ... is to cross promote one another" and in so doing empower one another, Merrill said. It also allowed customers to discover female-led business and learn their story, their impact and how they are empowering female communities around the world, she said.

The business began with five, grew to 25 and by the time the first boxes went out around Mother's Day, "we had 50 brands that wanted to be a part of it," Merrill said. The reach quickly moved Texas to around the U.S. and artisans around the world, she said.

In the case of Andrade, Merrill said she brought her to Support HerStory not only because of her amazing artistry but also because it would be an opportunity to employ more artisans around Cabo.

"As we continued to grow we realized it was an opportunity to bring women founders of small businesses together in order to create a movement," she said, "of the power of female founders and small business supporting one another."

"In May 2021 I decided to join Support HerStory full-time as CEO and turn our model into an overall marketplace supporting female-founded small businesses through collaboration, capsule collections and an online shoppable marketplace." Shoppers on the website will learn about the stories of each business as well their impact and the communities involved, Merrill said.