LOCAL MILLINER TO H AVE T WO H AT DESIGNS ON DISPL AY AT 2020 LONDON H AT WEEK EXHIBITION Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided
An avid arts-and-crafts girl since she was young, Kristin Mobley has always pursued her creative side. “I learned to sew very early in life. I was an only child and a Montessori child so in my free time, I made purses, jewelry, and all sorts of stuff,” Mobley says. When she entered college, she had plans to study art and design but was dissuaded to do so, warned that artists earn a meager living. Instead, she chose to go to school in Virginia where she studied child development. While there, she met Mark Mobley, whom she would later marry. When he mentioned that he was from Louisville, Kentucky, she told him, “Take me to the Derby!”
That he did. In fact, the couple moved to Louisville permanently, and for 10 years she worked as a private nanny for several families, many of whom employed their own landscapers, maids and milliners. Each time a milliner came to the house, Mobley was riveted.
“When you have a mother who overdosed on pills, the last thing you want to tell your doctor is, ‘I’m depressed. I need medication to help turn things around,’” Mobley says. “At the same time, after losing my mom, I felt like I had to be the best mother that I could be.”
Ultimately, she sought treatment, engaged in self-care, and now feels 100% better. “I’d observe these lovely hat makers and would think, ‘I could do that!’” Mobley says. Though she played around with hat design, Mobley’s daughters Liza Lynn (2) and Caroline Mark (1) have transformed her she never dove in completely. world view — making her appreciate what Not long after she married Mark, Mobley she has and evaluate what she needs. experienced tragedy when her mother, who had battled mental illness for years, took her “It’s been wonderful having children, but I own life. Several years later, when Mobley needed an outlet,” Mobley says. Though she had children of her own, she suffered from resold retro clothing, jewelry and consigned debilitating postpartum depression. items from her closet, she wanted to give return to her interest in hat design. 18 / SEPTEMBER 2020
