These Handwoven Panama Hats Can Run You $25,000
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2018
- Simón Abel Espinal wakes up thinking about his work-and with good reason. For nearly 40 years, he’s handwoven toquilla straw hats of the highest quality. Widely known as “Panama hats,” these brimmed beauties actually come from Simón’s home country, Ecuador. Simón’s hats can take over six months to complete, with the finished product fetching as much as $25,000.
This Great Big Story was inspired by Genesis.
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I sewed a button on once.
I tried and failed :/
Don't feel bad. My button fell of shortly after.
I did that the other day and every time i wear my shirt i feel proud
You should be next on GBS!
Lol great job man
Gucci wants to: *-KNOW YOUR LOCATION-* Hire you
@Throngdorr Mighty no. Gucci.
Newby ton nah gucci doesn’t provide quality products
Throngdorr Mighty gucci is just garbage smh but Alessandro is winning still so
*tips handwoven Panama hat* m'lady
Taikamuna Niiiice!
M'forehead
Magic egg
I'm seeing you in comments everywhere lately wth
The new Justin Y.
I'll preempt a question that is surely to come: if his hats are up to $25,000, why does he live in such a modest home? Well, recall making that hat took much of his year. Suppose you made a 25,000 coffee table, but it took you 8 months to finish the product and even more time to sell it. Suddenly, that sum no longer seems quite so impressive. I also suspect a middleman (or middle company) actually sells the hats and takes a substantial cut. Bear in mind that connecting a $25,000 straw hat with an interested, sufficiently wealthy buyer is likely a challenging process in its own right. Same general idea for the other videos of craftsmen featured on this channel.
@@ObesePuppies he may not end up with much after a middleman and i understand it may take a year and what not but 25K in ecuador is a lot. cost of living is much lower. property is expensive comparatively because there is so little but the day to day cost of living is much much cheaper than the US or much of europe.
Perhaps he only sold one or two hats worth that much in his lifetime and the story decided to run with “up to $25,000.” I’ve lived off $25,000 a year in the U.S (where cost of living is much higher) and I’d argue my standard of living was higher then his. It’s possible he also provides financial assistance to family members and chooses not to spend very much on himself.
he is not selling them from his door. There is an entire network involved from bringing his hat to the eventual wearer, and each of these steps involved will increase the price.
I'm from Ecuador, and you're pretty much right. He probably sold one or two hats in his lifetime for that amount, and the ones that cost that take around a year or a year and a half to make, also the really expensive ones don't look like the one of the video, the one from the video is probably one of the normal ones that he makes year round and cost $100, or maybe less in some cases. Also the middleman that exports and/or buys them in bulk keeps almost 60%; and in rural communities the members of the family that make more money than others tend to help with children school costs, electricity/water bills and other basic payments of the members of the family who need them. And his house is not modest, it's average or above average in Ecuador, average families and population in general here earn between $200 to $400 a month.
Still though, they have an entire year to secure an order.
You gotta love this guy. His attitude toward and love for his work is outstanding. Thanks for the video.
Omg. So breathtakingly wonderful. Highly specialised, artistry just fascinates me. Someone just focuses really hard on being amazing at one thing their whole life. I love that.
well he is not the only one, don't be so proud of him.
@@Tuturuelo20
dude... he's spent 40 years perfecting a craft, fucking be proud of the guy, who cares if others have done the same, it doesn't make his skill any less impressive, his dedication any less dutiful, also, while there are certainly plenty of people weaving hats i doubt many possess the skill or are willing to invest the time that this man does.
Panama hats are practical and beautiful hats for warm and hot weather. You can get a cheap mass produced straw hat in the traditional style for less than $100 (USD), but a traditionally woven hat of high quality costs several hundred dollars. The hat in this video is more of an art object than a hat. It's the most sophisticated and refined expression of the craft of making these hats that has ever been. You could wear it, and it would work superbly, but it's clearly not a practical item. It's an extravagance. It's like a presentation weapon completely engraved and inlaid with gold. Actually, it's a little better in terms of practicality, with since what he's doing is making the weave even more fine and smooth to the touch. But it's far, far beyond the point of diminishing returns. A hat that costs less than 10% of this will look and function just as fancy. This is more about either conspicuous consumption (some oil sheikh buying it just because it's the most expensive, for example) or because someone appreciates the work the artisan puts into making the best hat he possibly can, even though he could make a hat 95% as good in a fraction of the time. This guy labors tremendously just to make the hat a little more perfect. It takes both a great deal of skill and people willing to buy such a hat so that he can do it.
Ok... u have a lot of time on your hands
Omg these stories are soooo inspiring thx ;)
Love what you do and do what you love.. Kudos to you my man..👍🏻
I love that he's keeping this technique alive. but LOOORDT I can't imagine the back pain he has from leaning over like that every day.
and the neck pain 2
Keep the good work, Great Big Story!
The cinematography is amazing
Why isn’t there a #ecuador if Panama hats are made in
Ecuador
Honestly, I prefer the footwoven Panama Hats.
Watch a few other videos about producing these hats. There seem to be a dozen people involved with making each hat. Not taking anything away from any of them, I'm glad they are keeping old crafts going.
I love Ecuador! My parents are Ecuadorian, and we go there every summer ❤️
well-spoken dude 👍🏼
Great Story of a Great Man
I never thought I'd find a hat so beautiful.
😮 wow that’s so cool!
Incredible!
Omg those are beautiful
Mad RESPECT TO YOU
I love this💛
Thats video was dope!!!
I wove a pot holder with cloth bands before.....
Wow 😲 I’m a heck of a good sewer but that is truly phenomenal 💕
wow, that's a great video!
Hey I am a new sub love your channel
Quality and care
I like how this channel focuses on the people not the objects.
I love the last quote: „I hope God grants me more time to live so I can create more of this wonderful art!“
(Or something like this)
woah!amazing
Quite impressive
This dude is crazy. He KNOWS people call him the the best. He is the best
one of the world's MOST EXPENSIVE hats woven by an IMPOVERISHED artisan
what an irony...?
most of the most expensive fashion pieced are made by poor third world workers.
benjīe solmīa he’s stingy he’s rich af
Living in a modest home does y make them 'IMPOVERISHED'.
As an Ecuadorian: he's not impoverished. Just because he chose to stay in the same place as his ancestors to follow their tradition instead of moving to the big city doesn't mean he's impoverished. Also, his home is average to above-average for a rural setting in Ecuador. Finally, in Latin America it's expected the richest member of the family covers most of the expenses (elder care, medical bills, even nephews' and nieces' school expenses) so money gets diluted a lot, especially in rural families which tend to be more... numerous.
I'm running a hat business and I had the pleasure to know a few of those montecristi artisans. One of them told me that the most lucky panama crafter (Simón, the guy on this video) was hired by a hat maker in the USA to make panamas exclusively for them. That means that company pay him the average salary in Ecuador to make panama hoods only for them.
The other way panama makers have to finish the hat by themselves (block it to a random size, sew a sweatband and a ribbon, travelling to Cuenca because in Montecristi doesn't have tools and machinery) and try to sell to whoever stops by Montecristi, so you may know at that price range in a farm village it's not easy by far.
So the best panama makers keep being impoverished unless they get hired by a big company that pay them an average salary to make panama hoods all year long, so then that companies block the hoods at the right size and shape as client requires. That's my experience.
Where do you even begin with that thing?
WOW: what incredible knowledge, skill, dexterity and patience! I bet this man doesn't get paid very much and that the middle-men and others get rich from his labour - or am I wrong? I take my hat off to this man and others like him who work (slave?) so hard to make beautiful things - for those who can afford them.
Great craft, I hope he's getting paid well for his work.
AMAZING
HA IN ECUADOR THE SAME KIND OF MATERIAL USED AND COSTS 45 USD
Neat.
*_panama by Van Halen plays_*
kremit the frog who?
@@Raboon1062 ONE OF THE BEST ROCK BANDS OUT THERE THAT'S WHO!!!
Shaggy Led Zeppelin wanna be
@@Raboon1062 what?
Shaggy I searched them up. People say there bad.
SUPREME WANTS TO HIRE YOU¡
Ecuador! 😊💛💙❤
cant imagine being hunched over like that for six months
You can also get to know the Panamanian hats (this are purely Panamanian). Search for "sombrero pintao" as an example of one, they are also very beautiful
Panama hats are not from Panama. It's from Ecuador...
he should make some supreme hats
Those panama hats are amazing.
Dude, stop commenting the premise of every video on this site
Si cn pla o sa le cumpere?
I would like to make one by myself
Whoa.
I SWEAR I READ HANDWOVEN AS HALLOWEEN NOT EVEN KIDDING
Cool
Um this video doesn't clarify or explain anything about the "Panama" hat., Montecristi is in Ecuador. This video just fails to specify that Panama hats are original from Ecuador including this one showed in the video. Hats can range in price depending on how fine the weave is and the process the material took, so no, not all hats are worth 25k, but those that are are a piece of art. There are two main regions these hats are made in Ecuador one in the coast and one in the Highlands and the skilled artisans start very young. Unfortunately they don't get paid what these hats are worth most of he time thanks to middle men.
Also Panama hats just take the name Panama because they were widely exported to Panama and used during the construction of the Panama Canal. They gained popularity for their light weight, durability, and how breathable they were. Basically they were/are good working hats still hand made in Ecuador and exported to Panama and other countries.
But of course you can get machine made plastic ones from China too for couple bucks....
It is in the description.
Well I hope tech savy relatives of theirs will be able to help these artisans directly connect with customers so they can cut out the middlemen.
You can get similar quality for wwy more cheaper. You just have to buy from the maker and be a native.
LOVE MY #ECUADOR ♥️
Thats amazing. Wowie. And im too lazy to get out of my bed and this dude spends months on a hat
For some reson I read the title as "These hand made cats can run you $25,000" I was like whatttttt?? (Also great vid)
Los sombreros se hacen llamar de Panamá porque Eloy Alfaro en sus viajes a Panamá llevaba este tipo de sombrero y no tardó en llegar a comercializarse en esa región.
Even if you pay me $200,000, I won't be able to make one round perfectly!
Such an awesome artisan!
did he just say importante
HE SAYS FROM 25 TO 2K-25K AT THE START OF THE VID. ALSO NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO LIVE FANCY
Panama is also a very good song
Heisenberg hat!!!
Mí país es muy hermoso
This dude's nails are nicer than mine
Hey
hey gucci needs u
Adonde están mis panameños?
I appreciate the craftsmanship and artistry of this sumbrero but that is too expensive.
If I ever win the lottery I’ll buy one of these
handsum artist
WOAH
25k for candies on your hat after one night
handmade anything = dying out.
The real McCoy by far.
Hi
Is it a Panama hat if made in Ecuador? I guess that's the style?
J Shankle it's called Panamá hat because it was widely exported during the times were the US had the control over our canal, but they are Ecuadorian
40 years... bruh
Hey atleast it has more care than 10,000 dollar shoe laces
*You break you buy*
This video teach me something... even if you're skilled in something you are still can be exploited by greedy company or someone...
It’s pretty much impossible for me to weave because my fingers are to fat and clumsy
If the wind blows away this hat off your head, you might as well have thrown thousands of dollars into the wind.
*It looks like any other hat though, I need something that tells people I have a $25k hat*
❤️
It is called "Panama" hat...but 1. Is not use in Panama
2. Not made in Panama....
It is a beautiful hat, dont get me wrong, but I just confused about the name...
The story goes US president Roosevelt went to Panama at a time Ecuador exported many hats to that country, bought a Montecristi hat as souvenir without asking about its real source, and called it publicly a "Panama hat" so the name stuck.
@@Iunanec oohhh.....it makes sence....thank you so much!!!
adriana516 we do use them here in Panamá, but obviously we use more the local market of panamanian authentic hats
@@soloataraxia I know...we use more of the Sombrero Pintados than the "Panama" hat...maybe I'm bias but I love my sombrero pintado more... its part of our culture...
adriana516 eres panameña?
For a moment I thought it's going to play despacito 0:00
My question is: it's says they fetch up $25,000, but how much of that money is he actually getting to see.
@Jonathan Williams I suppose. I just know alot of these speciality type things, they cost alot, but the actual workers don't get much of the money. It goes to the tourist places or the people selling them
AT FIRST IN THE INTRO IT SEEMED LIKEE A HAY HAT BUT HOLY SHIT THATS A GOOD HAT
This is a really fine quality hat from excellent fine toquila . I live in Costa Rica and will visit Ecuador the next few months - probably end November . I would want to buy directly from the manufacturer and not a shop - maybe can have a custom made Fedora . Where are you based ? My email and phone are in my profile . Thanks !
If he earns that much how come he lives in a small house with Barely any space
But is it unusual?
yoooo i thought this said pajama hats
He is a national treasure. More and more Equadorians are leaving the hat weaving trade so fine hats like his will be extinct within our lifetime. I hope he gets a big chunk of the final sale price.
Imagine what he could do with hair! 😂
$25000 😮 🥜
Equipping this hat gives +5 to protecting m’lady and +10 to katana skill. Tipping the brow summons Richard Dawkins as a companion.