Nestled on a lake in The Central Highlands of Mexico lies our hat village...
In this village lives a family who follow a craft of generations, handed down from one to another.
Our family consists of three generations all living and working under one roof, powering foot peddle sewing machines, meticulously working on each and every hat in the same way it has been done for decades.
Our hats are made from Washington Palm. Each palm standing approximately five metres high. The new green fronds are cut from the centre of the palm, collected and dried in the sun. Once dried, they are stripped into lengths and bundled together to be sold to the hat makers.
Seven strands of the stripped palm are then plaited together into 1-2 metre lengths.
These lengths are carefully sewn in a circular motion using a foot peddle machine from crown to brim. The hats then change hands to another family for heat steaming and moulding on beautiful old wooden hat presses. They are finally returned to the hat maker for bands, labels and hand woven ropes to be attached. The hats then undergo a fumigation process before being boxed for freight to us.
This is the story of Capelo, proudly known for being "Handmade in Mexico"
