We make VEGAN FRIENDLY HEADWEAR for ALL HAT LOVERS
So you can feel good about looking good.
BACK STORY
After many years operating a hat and streetwear store here in Puerto Rico, the owners were forced to rethink their business due to the aftermath of hurricane Maria.
A fresh start meant that the hat aficionados could contemplate starting the headwear company they had always dreamed of.
However, the vegan (moi) couldn’t bring herself to work with the materials traditionally used in the industry knowing that the vast demand for which contributes to the suffering and slaughtering of millions of animals each year.
Beaver, hare and rabbit fur-felts, most commonly used in higher end fedoras, were never on the table, but a search for so called “ethical” wool-felt proved fruitless (hint: there is no such thing) This was discouraging since, while you can always find a nice “accidentally vegan” panama or cotton sewn fedora, sometimes you just really need that cool felt stingy brim or felt beret to complete your look.
So, not wanting to compromise ethics for style, she struck out on her own to find a vegan-friendly wool felt alternative.
After much continued research she came across a manufacturer in China that works with a high quality faux felt alternative. They were able to produce her designs to perfection, and the world’s first fully vegan felt hat company was born, vegan woman owned and independent!
The first collection debuted in the fall/winter of 2018, one year after Maria.
TODAY
We hope the style, quality and attention to detail will appeal to all hat lovers!
While at the same time our vegan friends can relax perusing our collections knowing they will never have to check the labels for animal-derived “ingredients”. Or double check.
No fur. No wool. No leather. No feathers. No silk. No harm.
Images
Above: Early hatfluences from British Rude Boys and Girls to American Jazz and Hip hop, old movies and art-school style icons.
Top: 3 legged rescue crashes photo shoot. I was asking for the tripod, not the tripod cat!
BUT POLYESTER…
We are proud to say that our hats are animal cruelty-free and “replace” a product that isn’t, but there’s no green-washing the fact that they are made from 100% polyester, which comes from a non-renewable resource.
However, the negative environmental impact of wool production vs polyester production is way higher, as can be seen in the chart below. In fact leather, silk and wool, all found in traditional hat making, are among the top 5 worst offenders, while polyester is at the bottom of that list.
Further, the post production/consumer impact on the environment (ie, once you own one of our hats) is minimized due to:
- Low turnover owing to the timeless styles and durable construction (slow fashion vs fast fashion)
- Fedoras are not laundered, so they will not be contributing to oceanic pollution unlike polyester or micro fiber clothing.
- Polyester is now almost 100% recyclable.
So in a head-to-head (ahem) with wool and fur felt, our hats come out the winner not only for the animals, but for the planet too, and while we are not a “green” company as such, we are always looking out for more environmentally friendly alternatives for future collections and are committed to making every adjustment when feasible, including across our business as a whole.
source: Global Fashion Agenda
PACKAGING
All of our shipping boxes are manufactured in the USA or PR using recyclable materials. Any plastic, extra packaging or superfluous branding (hang tags etc.) is avoided wherever possible.
GREEN HOSTING
We recently moved our website over to Kualo, an eco-conscious web-hosting service who’s servers run off 100% renewable energy.
Final thoughts…
#woolisnotavictimlessproduct #Coolnesswithoutcruelty.