In 1982, Millie Merrill designed the first fleece neck warmer in the basement of the Yellow Turtle, a children’s apparel store in Stowe, Vermont. Affectionately dubbed The Turtle’s Neck®, it was a design shift in winter accessories that proves successful to this day. The invention of the Original Turtle’s Neck freed once scarf-bound skiers from their tangled and burdensome accessories. This invention also led her to found Turtle Fur, with headquarters now in Morrisville, Vermont.

From The Neck was born The Hat, from The Hat; many more hats. In collaboration with her husband John, who joined in 1991, Turtle Fur continued to grow – adding new products and new members to their team. Millie and John retired in 2000, selling Turtle Fur to Long Island native and entrepreneur, Richard Sontag