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The Panama Hat Company has provided finely woven, hand-made Panama Hats in the historic heart of old St. Augustine, Florida since 1985. { Find out more }
He molds hats by hand and employs scarce weavers in Ecuador.
By DIANA MIDDLETON, The Times-Union
ST. AUGUSTINE - In order to spin new life into an old hat, all it takes is an iron, some steam - and years of long-lost training, according to one retailer.
Tony Lippi, a St. Augustine hatmaker and retailer, is trying to keep the art of molding the perfect fedora by hand - not machine - alive with his shop, the Panama Hat Co. Since taking over the St. George Street storefront from his parents in 2002, Lippi has made it his mission to do custom hat manufacturing the old-fashioned way, as well as using independent weavers in Ecuador for some of the more coveted, handmade designs.
"We are very specialized in those hard-to-find styles," Lippi said. "There are very few weavers left that make the hats we sell."
Using heated elements such as an iron and steam, Lippi can transform an existing hat into an entirely different shape or style using wooden molds called "blocks." Lippi has four to five dozen of these - mostly antiques culled on eBay or defunct manufacturers - in his shop.
"Blocking is all about reshaping and customizing, taking an old hat and making a new hat," he said. "If you brought me a fedora, I could steam iron it into anything."
With his tools, he can smooth the knifelike creases in a gambler-style fedora into the smooth dome of a derby hat, "just like a jeweler does for all its clients." { more }
