Our Founder’s Story — Why BERKAM Exists
We put the short version on our About page: BERKAM was born from a single belief, that the things closest to you should be made with extraordinary care.
The short version is true. Here’s the longer one.
The Name First
BERKAM draws from two old words: berk, from Old Norse, meaning birch tree, and kam, from Proto-Germanic, meaning comb. A comb from the living forest.
The birch isn’t the most dramatic tree. It doesn’t have the grandeur of an oak or the romance of a weeping willow. What it has is a particular quality of light — the way its bark glows silver-white in winter, the way its leaves move in the smallest breeze. It’s a tree that rewards attention. You notice it differently after you’ve been told what to look for.
We wanted the brand to have that quality: something that rewards attention, that reveals more the closer you look.
Where It Started
The founder spent years in a different industry, in a role that involved thinking carefully about material quality, how things are made, and what the difference between a well-made thing and a poorly-made thing actually is in practice — not in theory.
The specific moment it turned toward hair accessories was unremarkable: finding a collection of vintage barrettes in an antique market. Pieces from the 1950s and 1960s, in brass and resin and woven silk, still functioning perfectly, still beautiful. The enamel hadn’t chipped. The hardware still operated. The fabric hadn’t frayed. Everything was aging in a way that looked right rather than looking worn-out.
That’s what durable things look like. Not pristine and unchanged — that’s preservation, not wear. But used, familiar, and still themselves.
The question that followed was why contemporary accessories rarely achieved that. The answer, after spending time understanding the production economics of the category, was predictable: the price points the market had normalized didn’t support the materials and construction time required to make something that lasted.
The Decision About How to Make Things
The choice to make small batches was partly economic (the alternative requires capital and risk tolerance we didn’t have at the start) and partly principled.
Small batches mean you’re accountable to every piece. When you’re making forty bows rather than four thousand, there’s no statistical tolerance for poor quality — everything gets checked, and if something isn’t right, you know immediately rather than finding out from a customer months later.
Small batches also impose a kind of discipline on material sourcing. You can’t afford the cheapest ribbon when you’re relying on the per-piece margin to support quality. The economics of small-batch, higher-quality production work differently than the economics of volume production, and they push you toward better materials as a matter of necessity, not virtue.
We source our French grosgrain from France because the mills there have been producing this specific fabric for generations and it performs the way we need it to. We source our Italian acetate from the same tradition that produces optical frames — one of the most demanding applications for this material — because the standards are already established. We source Japanese kanzashi silk because the tradition it comes from has optimized for exactly the properties we need.
These are practical decisions. They happen to also align with values we hold. That alignment isn’t accidental — we built the brand around the values, which shaped the decisions — but the practical case is real and doesn’t require the value case to stand up.
Wyoming and Yiwu
BERKAM LLC is registered in Wyoming. Our studio and shipping center is in Yiwu, China.
This is worth being transparent about. Yiwu is a global hub for small commodities manufacturing — it’s where an enormous proportion of the world’s accessories and small products are made or sourced. Some of what comes from Yiwu is well-made; some isn’t. The material and quality decisions are entirely separate from the production location.
We’re in Yiwu because the artisan skill and production infrastructure there allows us to make handcrafted products at volumes and prices that would be impossible in most other locations. The craft is real. The artisans are skilled. The materials come from the suppliers we’ve described.
We’re not hiding this, and we’re not using it as an excuse to make things carelessly. The standard we hold our production to is the same wherever it’s located.
What We’re Trying to Do
The goal isn’t to be a luxury brand in the conventional sense — the one where the price is the point and the product is secondary. The goal is to make things that last, that reward the attention you give them, and that feel like they were made by someone who cared about how they came out.
The BERKAM Journal — this blog — is part of that. We want to be worth reading when you’re trying to understand something about hair accessories: what fabrics do, how construction works, what the difference is between something made carefully and something made cheaply. That information has value independent of whether it leads you to buy from us.
If you’ve made it this far, we appreciate the attention.
[Explore the collection →]
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is BERKAM based?
BERKAM LLC is registered in Wyoming, USA. Our studio and shipping center is in Yiwu, China — a global hub for accessories manufacturing where we work with skilled artisans. We source materials from France (grosgrain ribbon), Italy (acetate hardware), and Japan (kanzashi silk). We ship to 50+ countries worldwide.
What does the name BERKAM mean?
BERKAM draws from Old Norse "berk" (birch tree) and Proto-Germanic "kam" (comb) — a comb from the living forest. The birch is a tree that rewards attention: its silver-white bark, the way it catches light, the movement of its leaves. We wanted the brand to have that quality — more interesting the closer you look.
Why does BERKAM make small batches?
Small-batch production means we’re accountable to every individual piece rather than managing quality statistically. It also makes better materials economically viable — when the margin per piece supports it, you can source from suppliers like the French grosgrain mills and Italian acetate makers rather than accepting the cheapest available alternative. The practical and principled reasons for small batches reinforce each other.
Are BERKAM products handmade?
Yes. Each piece is hand-assembled by skilled artisans in our Yiwu studio. Bows are hand-tied rather than machine-formed, edges are finished individually, and hardware is attached by hand. Every piece is checked before it leaves. The production location doesn’t change the handcraft standard — the work is done the same way regardless of where it happens.
What makes BERKAM different from other hair accessory brands?
The combination of specific material quality (named and traceable — French grosgrain, Italian acetate, Japanese kanzashi silk, recycled brass), hand assembly in small batches, and honest transparency about production. We’re not trying to be the largest or cheapest option. We’re trying to make the thing you’ll still be wearing in five years.
