Ten years ago, Will & Bear started with an idea, two people and a love for the outdoors.
There was no warehouse and definitely no team. Just Loz and Alex, a shared creative streak and a business plan built around doing things differently. From the beginning, they knew they wanted to create more than just another hat brand — they wanted to build a business that did things its own way, with purpose at the heart of it.
Since 2015, Will & Bear has grown from a side hustle run between day jobs into an Australian outdoor brand with a community that has taken us further than we ever imagined.
There have been markets, road trips, van life, new homes, new team members, millions of trees planted, events, plenty of hats and, most recently, our first backpack.
This is our founder story, ten years of Will & Bear.
It Started in Tasmania
Loz and Alex met in 2014, and by 2015, Will & Bear was born.
The idea really began in Tasmania. Inspired by the outdoors, travel and the places we wanted to spend more time in, we started imagining a hat brand that felt approachable, adventurous and distinctly Australian.
We didn't know exactly where it would lead. We just knew we wanted to build something of our own.
The Side Hustle Years
The first year was a proper side hustle.
Loz was working as a mortgage broker and Alex as a designer. Around our day jobs, we designed our first collection of Will & Bear hats, built the website and packed every single order ourselves.
There weren't many glamorous moments behind the scenes. It was late nights, boxes everywhere and figuring things out as we went.
But people started buying the hats. Then they started telling their friends.
Slowly, this little idea started to feel like it could become something bigger.
Going All In
Eventually, we quit our day jobs and went all in on Will & Bear.
Suddenly, the side hustle was the job.
We travelled around Australia, shooting content, attending markets and getting Will & Bear in front of anyone who would give us a chance. Those early markets gave us something we couldn't get from behind a screen, the opportunity to meet the people actually wearing our hats.
It helped shape the brand we were building and reminded us that Will & Bear was always going to be about more than the product.
Our First Home Had Wheels
Not long after, we bought our first home together.
It just happened to have wheels.
We called our van Marty and hit the road, living and working as we travelled around Australia. We did markets, met our growing community and experienced the landscapes that had inspired Will & Bear in the first place.
It wasn't just a chapter in our personal lives. Those years on the road became a huge part of the Will & Bear story and helped cement the values behind the brand: adventure, community, connection and getting outside.
Marty 2.0
Eventually, Marty needed an upgrade.
So, naturally, we gave the van a renovation and made it a little more work-friendly before heading back out again.
By this point, the business was growing and our needs were changing. Our tiny home also had to function as an office, content studio and basecamp.
It wasn't always practical, but it was very Will & Bear.
Taking the Brand on the Road
The next chapter involved fewer markets and a lot more storytelling.
We travelled Australia shooting campaigns, finding wild places and sharing the Will & Bear journey as it unfolded.
The landscapes became part of the brand. So did the people we met along the way.
Will & Bear wasn't created in a boardroom. It was shaped on the road, around campfires, on beaches, in national parks and through conversations with our community.
Planting Something Bigger
Very early on, we knew that if we were going to build a business, we wanted it to contribute something positive along the way.
We partnered with Trees for the Future to plant trees for every hat sold, supporting a project in Senegal, Africa.
After reaching 100,000 trees planted, we travelled to Senegal ourselves to see the work firsthand and create a short documentary about the impact of the project.
Seeing where those trees were being planted, and meeting some of the people behind the work, made something that had previously existed as a number on a screen feel very real.
Giving back has remained an important part of the Will & Bear story ever since.
Finally, A Home Without Wheels
Eventually, we found a home that didn't have wheels.
We renovated the old shed into a home office and photography studio, giving Will & Bear its first real creative base.
After years of working from wherever we happened to park Marty, having somewhere permanent felt pretty special.
Although, unsurprisingly, we didn't stay still for long.
Building Our Currumbin HQ
As the team grew, so did our need for a proper space.
We found a home for our office and store in Currumbin, Queensland, with Bear taking on much of the build and design himself.
It became somewhere our team could work together, our community could visit and people could actually try on the hats they'd been seeing online.
Another pretty big milestone for two people who started out packing orders themselves.
Our First Australian-Made Hat
Another milestone we were incredibly proud of was releasing our first Australian-made hat.
It went on to sell out three years in a row.
As an Australian hat company, creating something locally was a special moment and another step in learning what Will & Bear could become.
The Team Got Furrier
Somewhere amongst all of this, we welcomed two fur babies into the family.
They quickly became part of everyday life and, naturally, part of Will & Bear too.
Road trips, office days, shoots and everything in between became a little more chaotic and a lot better.
Will & Bear x Feast Over Fire
One of the best things about building Will & Bear has been the people we've had the chance to create things with.
Together with our good friend Charly from Feast Over Fire, we created the Will & Bear x Feast Over Fire cookbook, bringing together two things we love: getting outside and sharing good food with good people.
It was the beginning of a friendship and creative partnership that would lead to plenty more adventures together.
The First Will & Bear Summer Camp
Then came Summer Camp.
We held our first Will & Bear Summer Camp in the USA, at a place that had inspired Loz since the earliest days of the brand.
The idea was simple: bring together our team, friends, partners and community, get outside and spend some proper time together.
Turns out, we loved it.
Four Camps and Counting
Four years later, we've now made it to Camp #4.
What started as an idea has become one of our favourite annual traditions, a few days dedicated to getting outdoors, switching off and spending time with the people who make Will & Bear what it is.
As the business has grown, these moments of connection have only become more important.
Taking It to the Wild Table
We also put on our first ticketed event, Wild Table, collaborating with Feast Over Fire and Swell Hotel.
Good food, fire, nature and community, basically all of our favourite things around one table.
For a brand that started with two people selling hats at markets, seeing our community come together at events like this has been pretty surreal.
A Decade of Adventure
Along the way, we've visited too many incredible places to count.
We've crossed Australia, travelled overseas, slept in vans, camped under the stars, shot campaigns in some wild places and met people on the road who have gone on to become some of our closest friends.
The adventure was never something separate from the business.
It was the whole point.
After 10 Years of Hats, Something New
For ten years, Will & Bear has been synonymous with hats.
Now we're opening up the next chapter.
Last month, we released our first-ever backpack, taking everything we've learned from a decade of adventure and applying it to something new.
Hats will always be at the heart of Will & Bear. But after ten years, we're pretty excited to see where the road leads next.
We Did the Whole Thing Together
Through every version of Will & Bear, there have been the two of us.
Loz & Alex. Will & Bear.
From meeting in 2014, starting a business in 2015, quitting our jobs, living in a van, travelling Australia, building a team and growing a community — we did it together.
And after our very Will & Bear Wedding last year, we're now doing it as Mr & Mrs too.
Ten years is a pretty special milestone, but Will & Bear has never really felt like just our story.
It's also the story of everyone who bought one of those first hats. Everyone who stopped by our market stall. Everyone who followed along with Marty. Everyone who came to a camp or event. Everyone who told a mate about us, wore their hat until it was battered and well-loved, or took Will & Bear somewhere new.
Thanks for supporting our little Australian business and being part of the first ten years.
Here's to whatever comes next.
