Our hats are imported from Pachacuti in the UK. Pachacuti means world upside-down in the Quechua language and describes their endeavour to redress the inequalities in the global fashion industry through demonstrating that it is possible to run a successful clothing business which benefits the producers and is environmentally sustainable. Pachacuti partners with the only women's Panama Hat association in Ecuador, who make the hats, providing the principal income for hundreds of weavers.

The Panama Hat industry has traditionally been dominated by powerful middlemen at the expense of the weavers. Not only do Pachacuti's weavers receive good remuneration for their skills, but they are also provide a monthly wage for the director of the association so that she no longer has to tend to cows at 4am to earn extra income, and monthly pensions for elderly weavers, which is unknown in the panama hat industry! Pachacuti provides additional financial assistance through a medical and funeral fund and for capital expenditure. The extra income generated by the sale of Pachacuti's Panama Hats has been used to buy land for a grocery store, which will be built in order to improve levels of nutrition within the community.

All of the Panamas are fairly traded direct from the producers in the mountains around the city of Cuenca in southern Ecuador, where Pachacuti has been working with hat producers since 1993. Since 2002 they have been supporting the women's association representing over 300 weavers. The association aims to allow the weavers access to the whole production process, enabling them to retain more of the profit in the sale of the finished hat. They also support the weavers by providing education, training in new weaving techniques and regular meetings offering a forum for workers to voice concerns and make suggestions.

Panama Hats

Genuine Panama Hats are manufactured in Ecuador, the association with Panama being a historical misnomer now forever associated with these famous hats.

Panama Hats are woven by hand from Paja Toquilla straw, a filament split from the leaves of the Carludovica palmata plant indigenous to several elevated areas in the Ecuadorian regions of Guayas and Manabi. These coastal areas, between the ports of Manta in the north and Guayaquil in the south are the traditional centre of toquilla straw production and weaving and the home of the Panama Hat. The villages of Monticristi and Jipijapa have a history of hat production dating back at least four hundred years and have given their names to the hats they produce.

During the 19th century Panama Hat production was extended to the Andean region of Azuay centred around Ecuador's third largest city, Cuenca. Here production was modernised and developed as an important national industry.

Production

The leaves are cut by hand, bundled and transported to the harvester's villages, usually by horse or donkey. The toquilla leaves are then split or torn into thin filaments or straw. After cleaning the straw is then boiled or 'cooked' before being dried and bleached by the sun. The straw is then sorted by thickness and bound to produce bundles of paja toquilla straw around a meter in length ready for transportation to the weavers.

Weaving is largely a cottage industry which takes place in the villages close to the coastal plantations or in the Andes around the city of Cuenca. The weavers can produce a course grade hat in two to three days, however to produce a hat of superfine quality may take up to three months. The hat is woven outwards from the centre of the crown. When woven the unfinished hats have the excess straw protruding from the brims, which are then woven or darned into place one by one by a different group of workers.

After weaving the hats are washed and dried, and ironed to even out the weave and remove any small undulations in the straw. The sides and crown of the hat are evened out by beating, which requires great care and skill to avoid damaging the hat. The remaining straw fibers around the brim are trimmed off to leave a neat woven edge, and a steam press is then used to give the hat its shape. A wide range of shapes are possible although the commonest are the Fedora, the Colonial, the Borsalino (or Planter) and the Stetson. Finally a ribbon and internal band are attached before the Panama is complete.