About Us

How Two Mums Flipped the Script on Sun Shirts

We’re Kat & Tish — two North Queensland mums who started Hillson Apparel when we had four kids under four.

These days two are in school and two are almost there… and somehow life feels even more chaotic.

Living in North QLD means the sun is fierce and the adventures are endless. Beach days, fishing trips, camping weekends, backyard chaos — all the good stuff.

But keeping kids covered in sunscreen? That can feel like wrestling a crocodile.

And don’t even get us started on the “women’s” fishing shirts.

When we went looking for sun shirts for our families, all we found were:

❌ Kids shirts starting at size 4 — what about babies and toddlers?

❌ Thick, uncomfortable fabrics that kids hated wearing

❌ Women’s shirts that clearly weren’t made for real women — tight on the hips, baggy up top, zips that stop halfway over the boobs and hems that made us feel like we’d borrowed Dad’s shirt for dress-ups.

So in true sleep-deprived mum fashion… we decided to make our own.

After plenty of trial and error, testing, tweaking, and bribing the kids with snacks to “just try it on for a minute”… Hillson Apparel was born.

Today we design shirts that actually work for real families.

✔ Kids shirts in bright, fun prints they want to wear — so you can spot them from a mile away, they last longer than one summer, and they wash beautifully.

✔ Women’s shirts that actually fit women — hips, boobs and all — so you feel comfortable, confident and not frumpy.

✔ Lightweight, breathable, sun-safe shirts built for beach days, park hangs, fishing trips, camping adventures and chasing kids around the backyard.

✔ Rompers with zips, not buttons (because who has time for that), elastic legs to cover nappies and gorgeous prints we actually love.

No more fishing shirts that make you feel like a sack of potatoes.

Just good gear for real adventures — designed by two Aussie mums who get it… and may or may not run on caffeine.