Myssy is the most original and hat you can find. Nothing in our story fits the usual expectations. Or how does it sound to you:
Our every Myssy is knitted by a real Myssy Grandma in Pöytyä. We get our unique hand-dyed yarn from a local herd of Finnsheep. Everything is organic and original in our farm and nothing is cool in Pöytyä. Except when winter hits these parts.
That’s why people here have inherited the skills to knit the most perfect Myssys in the world.
The very first Myssy was made by Janne, a former professional windsurfer, who was stubborn, enough to learn how to knit his own hat. After touring the world for years, Janne returned home and found the love of his life: Anna, a designer born in Pöytyä, the same rural county as him, and the Myssy story was born.
Anna had deep roots in the farming culture, yet a career in the city. They settled into an old family farm, had four kids and decided to go all organic. They wanted to create a brand which had nothing to do with fashion as we know it.
They needed help. So they did what anyone in the countryside does: they turned to their neighbours! A nearby Rintala farm provided the Finnsheep wool they needed, and a host of local grannies provided their expert knitting skills.
Today Myssy beanies can be found in 16 countries across the globe from famous department stores to small boutiques. Yet every Myssy is still handmade by a local Myssy Granny, from the best spun Finnsheep wool. And while Pöytyä still isn’t quite what you would call a fashion capital, it seems that for some reason the Parisians really like to order our hats!
Perhaps, because Myssy will make you look like no one else.
If you’re ready to leave the beaches of Hawaii and the clubs of Helsinki for good and return to a farm in Pöytyä, it’s a calling! It’s a personal decision, and one most people may never really understand but in your heart you know it is the right thing to do. And believe it or not, there is a growing number of others who believe the same.
Anna, creative director of Myssy, previously worked in advertising before returning to her roots in Pöytyä. She is a fourth-generation member of the local women’s farming association, Pöytyän Maatalousnaiset, and it’s clear that the tradition for craftsmanship runs deep in her veins. She feels a strong sense of belonging and responsibility to Pöytyä as well as the desire to follow her ancestors, yet understands it is vital to remain connected to the urban culture.
As a designer, her work is guided by cross-generational traditions and her love for a home-bound, rural lifestyle. For her nature is not just a source of inspiration, but of well-being and energy. She is drawn to other bold characters who have found a way to make their farfetched dreams and outsized projects a reality - in essence, other outsiders. This is reflected in the Myssy designs, with a mix of the old and the new: retro styles, traditional techniques, and contemporary shapes. The visual world of Myssy is built out of the joyful juxtapositions of urban and rural lifestyles - their contradictions and their mixture, their contrasts and compliments.
Whether in the city or in the countryside, a strong feeling of externality follows here - always feeling like an outsider.
It might look like the middle of nowhere to you. But here in Pöytyä the tradition for craftsmanship has passed from one generation to another in farm families for centuries. Knitting runs in our veins and that is why we give all our products a lifetime warranty.