A Panama Hat... But comes from West Ecuador. Where Else?!
29 april 2017 - Cuenca, Ecuador
Today we visited the Panama Hat Factory in Cuenca. A well loved man named Homero Ortega started it in 1919 and the hat is worn by many famous people;
Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Lady Di…
Theodore Roosevelt was the first to have been given one, which became a tradition for each following President of the USA.
The Panama Hat knows various qualities to which comes a certain pricetag. From 31$ up to 2500$.
When Mr.Homero passed away every one thought it was done and over; but Homero's 3 daughters and one son managed to make it a flourishing bussiness.
His daughter Gladys is an architect and also studied Fashion. She started making the hats in many colours and The Famous HERMES in France deal a lot with them.
Besides hats the Panama Factory also do bridal clothing and purses.
After the tour we had a nice Canelazo Drink; typical Ecuadorian kind of shooter. Hot tea of special ingredients, with or without rum. The Ortega's are said to add a special flavour to it, so that women will feel the need to buy quite many things from them.
It worked on me! ;-)
I fell in love with the product and the story behind it. I told it to one of the ladies that works there in my best Spanish. She was touched by how I was moved and the most amazing happened:
From the whole group I was offered straight away to come along to the storage room to pick out the purses I loved most. Purses that were ready to go to Hermes and there was just one of each. I found 3 gorgeous pieces from designer Angelica Molina, daughter of Gladys Ortega. I had to make hard decisions….
2 purses I really adored (see other photos) but also wanting a hat to accompany my purse. Great quality, good prices! And imagine once they go to Hermes you will be charged about 5 times more!!! At least that!
But: we still aren't done with our travel! I had to eliminate 2 beauties to get ONE purse and ONE hat.
I respectfully would like to thank Mrs.Gladys Ortega for her personal attention and helping me fit and choose the most amazing combos. And a big hug to Sara, she assembled the hat that I had finally chosen: she picked the silk ribbon, the lace around the edge. She showed me the Hermes Storage in private. She sewed the hat to perfection both looks and fitting.
Deze foto werd gemaakt op 29 april 2017 in Cuenca, Ecuador met een Lg Electronics LG-D855.
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