SACO — Karen Gellis was on a family vacation in Florida several years ago when the idea hit her.

Her daughter has very sensitive skin, and her face was irritated by sunscreen. She tried using a hat to protect her face from the sun, but it fell off when she went swimming. 
Gellis put her rubber swim cap over a baseball hat on her daughter, and she was able to swim and even go underwater without the cap falling off.

Gellis, who has many years experience in the apparel industry, got right to work in creating a prototype of a swim hat, purchasing baseball caps and swim caps and sewing brims onto the swim caps.

Gellis, who was busy running a uniform company with her brother then pursuing a job in education, sat on the swim hat idea for a while, and in around 2013 launched Swimlids.

Her first product was a baseball style sun hat in bright colors and fun patterns with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor of 50. Last year, Gellis launched the Funky Bucket line of hats which have a brim all the way around, and they have been very popular. The Swimlids brand now includes board shorts and head bands, also made of UPF 50 material.

The items are sold at https://swimlids.com, and through online retailers including Amazon and swimoutlet.com. The products are sold at the national chain Buy Buy Baby and are available, through a New Hampshire distributor, at a number of boutiques and shops. There is also an exclusive line of children’s hats at Garnet Hill.

The Swimlids hats were noticed by Tory Johnson of Good Morning America, when she stumbled across the product at a trade show in Atlanta.
Johnson featured Swimlids sun hats June 1 on her “Deals and Steals” segment, which according to an online article from ABC, features “must-have items” at a discounted price to viewers.

Immediately after the sun hats were featured on national television, six thousand units were sold. 

Gellis credits the popularity of her product with its affordability. The original ball cap style on the the Swimlids websites ranges in price from $9.95 to $14.95.

Also, she said, sun protection has become increasingly important to people, and the hats are different from others as they’ll stay on while at a windy beach, during outdoor activities such as jumping in the waves and even under water.

Gellis said she plans to come up with some new patterns and create a line of hats that companies can put their logo on. In the future she may add other products, such as rash guards.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.