New A Harmless Project Featuring PRYMAL!

PRYMAL is a sustainable artisan hat label based in Ecuador; all their items are 100% handmade and fair trade. Their commitment to human rights, transparent business, and eco-friendly ideals makes this company exceptional. Keeping sustainability in mind, they use locally-sourced, sustainable raw materials, recycled packing materials, maintain a lighter carbon footprint, local production, and ensure efficient use of resources using the smallest possible quantity of natural resources.

Additionally, they're stance on improving their local economy through fair trade principals is inspiring. They're committed to better the lives of individuals and families by supporting local craftsmen and taking steps to reserve cultural artisanal traditions.

They even earned the Blue Butterfly award for Positive Luxury for making significant efforts towards bettering the community and the environment.

I have their Felt Australiano hat in Camel. It hits all the must-have trends for Fall right now with the right balance of function and fashion. The shape and color are timeless and versatile; the effortless style of this hat combined with the excellent quality make this an extremely worthwhile investment piece.

Check out their full collection of hats including straw Toquilla hats (or Panama hats), as well as their line of scarves, and straw bags up now on their website.

PRYMAL Felt Making Process:

PRYMAL only works with sheep’s wool. They have, when able, been present at the sheering of the sheep to ensure no cruelty is being done to the sheep. They're very transparent with how EVERYTHING is made and every step in the process. I spoke with Roberto, owner/founder of PRYMAL, about their process, and this is what he said: "Because of the way it is produced, felt is one of the strongest fabrics around since every fiber becomes interlocked to one another. Felt is made by using various techniques alternately, which include moisture, heat, and friction (rolling or banging). This process interlocks the fibers so close and tight to one another, that its end result provides a fabric that is very smooth to the touch, extremely durable, and water-resistant. "

1. - Felt Selection

The right “weight”, dimensions and color of felt are selected for the specific hat model to be made. These are called felt hat bodies.

2. - Blocking

Using wooden or metallic molds (called blocks) the hat bodies are formed into the desired crown and brim shape, as well as into a specific hat size.

3. - Brim Finish

Once the crown shape is ready, the brim length is cut to meet the customer’s requirements.

4. - Trimming

Once all of the shape processes are finished, the hat bands or trims are stitched into the finished hat.

5. - Quality Control

At PRYMAL all of our hats go through (at least) two quality control filters, the first checkpoint is before leaving the artisans workshop, and the second one is before preparing them to ship to the customers. If at any of these two filters, a flaw is found, then the hat goes back to the first stages to be fixed.

You can see the process for weaving their straw hats on their website.

I styled my hat with skinny jeans from Hudson, a high-low blouse from Michael Kors, vegan booties from Bhava, and a vegan bucket bag from Angela & Roi.