Known and treasured around the world, this WITTING ® Panama Hat has been made for hundreds of years in Ecuador.
The special note of an original Panama Hat its excellent weave and smoothness and has been for this reason an example of timeless elegance since decades.
A Panama hat (sometimes informally among hat enthusiasts, just a Panama – see Isthmus of Panama) is a traditional brimmed hat of Ecuadoria origin that is made from the plaited leaves of the toquilla straw plant (Carludovica palmata).
The American Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of d Europe.
For some products, the name of their point of international sale rather than their place of domestic origin stuck, hence “Panama hats.
The 49ers picked up these hats in Panama, and when President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal construction, he wore such a hat, which increased its popularity.
They’re also known as a Jipijapa, named for a town in Ecuador
