The Carludovica palmata is the plant used for the elaboration of our hats, was named in honor of Carlos IV of Spain and Ludovica of Parma, has accompanied our inhabitants from time immemorial being cultivated throughout the central and Latin American geography.
The process begins with the harvest that occurs during the moon in the waning quarter, this makes the fiber of the plant more resistant, the exact form of its cut and compilation is part of the traditions that frame the panama hat, the collectors have passed This secret to their children, generation by generation, thus conserving the quality and skill necessary to create the best hats.
Only the leaves of the palm that have not yet been opened are harvested exclusively. Their cultivation is essential since the inhabitants of the village live largely on the preparation of the leaves.
In the first place, the palm leaves are opened with a metallic “punch” and separated by cutting them into very fine threads, the latter being joined by the trunk in “buds”. The fibers are then cooked for the next 20 minutes on a wood fire.
The leaves are then hung to dry in the sun. This process is totally natural and does not use any type of oven to accelerate its drying. Then the fibers are separated from the trunk, and with the help of a mold begins the elaboration of the hat.
The two crucial moments in the elaboration of the hat are the beginning of the same and its “finished” when finishing the fabric of the wing; Of the skill of the craftsman will depend on whether he has done a good job, his final classification and quality. Subsequently proceed to the bleaching, drying and molding thereof.
Finally we add the traditional band, ties, labels or logos, and then go out to the whole world.