The Panama hat as we know it has only been around for slightly longer than a century, but the craft of weaving straw was already flourishing along the Ecuadorian coast by the time the Conquistadors landed in the New World. Over the centuries, master craftsmen perfected many of the precise weaves that would lead to the contemporary hats we know today. Popularized by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, who was photographed wearing one while examining the Panama Canal (reinforcing the hat's erroneous name) the Panama hat went on to become a staple of a man's summer attire. Sadly, as with many indigenous crafts, the fine art of making Panama hats has evaporated into the ether of the modern industrialized world.
     In the village of Montecristi, Ecuador, the legendary Superfino Panama hats are still woven the way they have been for generations. Two generations ago, there were 2,000 weavers; in the last generation, that number has been cut by 90% to fewer than 200. A mere handful of those are recognized as master weavers, and in the current generation there are even fewer of those. With the disappearance of the weavers, some facets of the hat-making process (most notably brim-finishing techniques) have been lost forever. With a quality hat taking at least two months to finish and an exceptional one up to six months, there is little time to instruct the new generation of young weavers. And there's a reason why this craft is disappearing - the work is arduous and time-consuming. The weaving is done from a tortuous bent-over position, with the weaver's chest resting on a cushion and wooden block and his arms extended toward the workroom floor.
     The source of the hat's straw is a kind of palm. In Ecuador the palm is collouquially referred to as toquilla. The straw derived from the palms is called paja toquilla. The intensely physical manual process which goes into converting the palm into straw has remained unchanged over time. By the end of the laborious process, the weavers split the strands of straw to a thread-like width using only their fingernails. With straw in hand the hats are woven from the center (a button-like starting point can be seen on the top of every hat) and worked outward toward the edge of the brim.
     The sombrero de paja toquilla will then be categorized into one of four quiality grades - Select, Fino Select, Extrafino and Superfino. According to Milton Johnson of the Montecristi Custom Hat Works, "There are perhaps six to twelve Superfino-grade hats made annually. Out of those only three or four will be really, really great." Which is why those hats can command a price upwards of $30,000. Not to worry: the Select grade hats commence at around a modest $500 and Extrafinos cap out (pun intended) at around $2,500.
     Once a customer selects the grade of hat they wish to invest in, the Panama is sized, steamed and blocked in accordance to the customer's measurements and style preference. The final step is to finish the hat with a ribbon or woven band.