Widely recognized as a Panama Straw hat, the proper name is a Toquilla Straw hat, handwoven by paja toquilla artisans in Ecuador. Our raw straw hat materials are of the highest woven quality—sourced from a family business in Ecuador.
The toquilla straw fiber comes from endemic palm trees that grow near the coast. The fine straw is transported to villages in higher elevations to dry. Typically, local suppliers fill orders from milliners and hat companies from all over the world. Each straw hat style is unique, and weavers often specialize in distinct weaves and patterns and are commissioned based on the intricacy of their skill.
Brookes requests finely woven patterns that showcase the diversity in weaves to create a unique product. With her final design and client in mind—she specifies the grade of weave, the color, style, and type of pattern, to the brim length and crown height for the hat bodies.
Brookes chooses thinly woven Brisa hat bodies for most of her hats. Her other preference is for the Montecristi weave. Named after the town in Ecuador—Montecristi also signifies the tight and finely woven high-quality straw. This weave is the most durable, flexible, and luxuriously soft—having a fabric-like texture to the hand because of the delicate weave.
The local workshop sorts the hat bodies and processes them before they are made into hats or shipped as raw hat bodies to other hat makers. The straw is processed depending on the desired final product. Sunbleached straw comes in different variations, and when color is requested—environmentally friendly dyes are used. The excess straw is trimmed for the raw hat bodies to be ready for hand-blocking.
Brookes transforms these raw woven hat bodies into classics in her Portland, Oregon studio. Each hat is meticulously hand-blocked—molded onto antique wooden hat blocks, sewn, and trimmed with attention to every detail, from the split suede drawstrings to the grosgrain ribbon sweatband.
Hats are made-to-order and available for individual purchases or wholesale orders.