Panama Straw

Genuine panama straw

The straw known as panama straw is found in Ecuador and comes from the leaves of the jipijapa plant, a palm-like plant. For centuries, people in the coastal area of Ecuador and some regions in the Andes Mountains have specialised in hand-weaving hats from dried leaves. Finished hats used to be shipped to Panama before exporters sent them to the final destinations in Europe, Asia and the United States.

History
In 1904, President Roosevelt visited Panama to inspect the Panama Canal project. He was offered an Ecuadorian straw hat as protection against the sun. Since his pictures while wearing the hat went over the world, people called this particular straw hat panama hat.
There are different types of qualities and ways of weaving panama hats. The finest weave is called Montecristi, and this quality will allow you to roll up the panama hat and thread it through a wedding ring. However, superfine Montecristi straw hats have become very rare and expensive.

Fine quality Bronté panama straw hats
At Bronté, you will find a panama straw hat of excellent quality with a good price-quality ratio ( euro 139,- - euro 300,-). All Bronté panama fedora and trilby hats for men have an additional silicon layer inside the crown to protect the dents of the hat crown. In most Bronté women's fedora hats you'll find a layer of silicon protection in the markings. Panama hats with a crocheted weave in the crown will not have the silicon layer as the straw is more flexible and open.

Care advice for a Panama hat We recommend that you handle a panama straw hat more carefully than a felt hat. It is best to handle the Panama hat as you would an uncooked egg! We advise taking the hat on and off by the brim rather than touching the crown. This way, your Panama, fedora or trilby hat will stay beautiful in the coming summers.
In our winters, the air is often relatively dry due to central heating, which can cause the fabric of the Panama hat to break.

Storage advice
Store the Panama straw hat in a large plastic bag, breathe into the bag to balloon to size and close the bag tightly. The moisture in the plastic bag ensures that the Panama does not dry out.

Bronté panama collection for men and women
Check Bronté's full range of Panama hat styles, like a bleach-dyed fedora hat such as Thomas and a taupe tone Panama hat in the Luc style. You will also find trilby and top hat, pork-pie and capeline styles.

Do not hesitate to contact us in case of questions of need for style consultancy at info@bronteshop.com