The Wissahickon High School graduate who created the viral mirrorball cowboy hat worn by Beyoncé is now having her life made harder by knockoffs and dropshippers, writes Beatrice Forman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Abby Misbin spends up to 15 hours a day inside the basement of her parent’s Ambler home, which she calls her “hat bunker,” creating various custom novelty cowboy hats.

She has been selling her creations on her Etsy store Trending by Abby for the last three years. However, her business truly started to boom in February after Beyoncé wore one of her hats to promote the Renaissance tour.

In fact, she became too successful. She had to stop mirrorball hat orders to catch up with those already made and now has a 6,000-person waiting list.

She also learned about dropshippers, merchants who flood maker markets with mass-produced knock-off designs from artists who already have a presence on the platform.

“Even just searching my name makes me too upset because these shops keep popping up,” said Misbin. “I just take issue with people who don’t value the amount of work I’m putting in.”

Read more about Abby Misbin in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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