HE DID NOT CHOOSE A HAT. HE CHOSE THE WORLD BEHIND IT.

Before Panama Hatters, I was already living within the world of image.

I worked as a model, a fashion photographer and in public relations. They were different experiences, yet they all taught me the same thing: how to observe.

I learned to recognise proportion, presence and the way a single detail can completely transform the perception of a person.

I moved through fashion, events and great hotels—places where true elegance never needs to announce itself.

But I did not want to spend my life merely interpreting the image of others.

I felt the need to create something with an identity of my own.

In Paris, in 2012.

I met one of Ecuador’s most accomplished artisans. It was more than a professional encounter. Through him, I began to understand that behind the Panama hat existed a world far deeper than what was usually displayed in shop windows.

He later introduced me to the Ecuadorian Consul in Milan.

From that moment, I began following a thread.

One year later, I was in Quito and travelling through the areas of Ecuador where Toquilla fibre is prepared and woven. I saw entire families working by hand, repeating gestures passed down from one generation to the next.

There were no machines, no noise and no communication strategy.

There was time.

There were hands.

There was ancient knowledge.

At that moment, I understood that I had not simply discovered a product to sell.

I had encountered a story to protect and an identity to return to the world.

I saw something contemporary fashion is often in danger of forgetting: the value of time.

Every fibre was prepared, worked and woven through a craft that cannot be accelerated without losing its authenticity.

For those families, there was no clear separation between work, culture and life. Weaving was part of their history.

I understood that a true Panama hat does not begin when it appears in a boutique.

It begins much earlier.

It begins in the land, in the fibre, in patience and in the hands of those who have understood the material for generations.

That is where Panama Hatters still begins today.

Because they possess two very different yet complementary qualities.

Ecuador protects the origin, the fibre and the wisdom of the weave.

Italy possesses an instinctive culture of proportion, design and elegance.

I never wanted to transform an Ecuadorian creation into something it was not.

I wanted to respect its soul and reinterpret its presence through an Italian eye.

Ecuador creates its authenticity.

Italy gives it a new presence.

Panama Hatters was born precisely from this encounter.

Understanding that the Panama should never be presented as a simple summer accessory.

It had always been much more than that.

The Panama had travelled across continents, eras and ports. It had been worn by men and women capable of leaving behind a precise image of themselves.

Yet over time, it had been reduced to little more than a seasonal product.

I wanted to restore its meaning.

Not to create another hat, but to return the true Panama to the world where it belonged: travel, personality and recognisable elegance.

Because the Panama belongs first to an experience.

Borgo Egnazia was an important confirmation. It was not simply a prestigious place. It possessed its own atmosphere, its own identity and a very precise way of welcoming travellers.

There, I understood that the right path did not necessarily begin with traditional boutiques.

It began in places where people were already experiencing something meaningful.

A great hotel does not simply sell a room.

It gives you a memory.

And a Panama discovered during a journey never remains merely a hat. It becomes part of that place, that light and that particular season of life.

This is why Panama Hatters grew within hotels, resorts, yacht clubs and destinations chosen by international travellers.

Our client is not simply looking for a product.

They are looking for something that belongs to the world they are experiencing.

They are not defined by age, nationality or spending power alone.

They are defined by the way they choose.

They are accustomed to travelling, yet still capable of being moved by discovery. They recognise quality without needing it to be explained and prefer objects with an origin over things designed merely to be seen.

They may be on Lake Como, in Mykonos, in Monte Carlo, aboard a yacht or at a golf club.

The place changes.

Their attitude remains the same.

They do not need to appear in order to be recognised.

Panama Hatters is created for this kind of traveller.

First of all, its origin.

Over time, the name Panama has created a great deal of confusion. But an authentic Panama hat is born in Ecuador, made from Toquilla fibre and woven entirely by hand.

Its form does not make it authentic.

Its story does.

Then come the quality of the fibre, the regularity of the weave, the time required to create it and the ability of the artisan.

Some hats can be completed in a matter of days. The finest Montecristi pieces may require months of work.

Authenticity cannot be added at the end like a label.

It must be present from the very beginning.

I did not choose it.

After several years, clients, collaborators and people I met during my travels began spontaneously calling me “Panama.”

Then came “Mr. Panama.”

I believe it happened because they no longer saw me merely as the owner of a brand or as someone selling hats.

They associated me directly with that world.

With travel, Ecuador, the artisans, the hotels, the collections and a particular way of interpreting the Panama.

When a name is given to you by others, it carries a different meaning.

Mr. Panama is not a character that was created.

It is the natural result of a story lived over many years.

A way of seeing.

He is the man who travels, observes, selects and recognises the things that possess a soul.

He is not necessarily the loudest person in the room.

Very often, he is the one who is remembered.

Mr. Panama no longer refers only to me.

He has also become the symbol of our traveller: free, curious, international and secure in his own identity.

Someone who does not wear an object to prove something.

He chooses it because it represents him.

The hat completes the image, but more importantly, it reveals an attitude.

A Panama changes the way the face is framed, the posture and even the way a person enters a room.

But it should never feel like a mask.

The right hat does not conceal who you are.

It makes you immediately recognisable.

Over time, it also follows the person who wears it. It softens, adapts and gathers the traces of each journey.

Authentic objects should not remain untouched and perfect.

They should live.

That is how they acquire character.

I deeply identify with the idea expressed by Giorgio Armani: elegance is not about being noticed, but about being remembered.

It is a fundamental distinction.

Attracting attention may last only a moment.

Remaining in someone’s memory requires identity, balance and consistency.

Elegance has no need for excess, ostentation or oversized logos. It may live in a gesture, in a proportion, in the way someone wears a hat or crosses the lobby of a great hotel.

It should never ask to be looked at.

It is simply recognised.

This is also the idea of elegance upon which I built Panama Hatters.

The hats are the beginning.

But Panama Hatters is intended to represent an entire world shaped by travel, identity and presence.

I do not want people to enter our universe thinking only about what they might purchase.

I want them to recognise a way of living: choosing the right places, respecting craftsmanship, embracing discovery and moving freely without losing one’s identity.

We are not building an ever-larger catalogue.

We are building an increasingly recognisable language.

A world you enter.

Not simply a product you buy.

Luxury is not about owning many things.

It is about being able to choose the right ones.

It is the time required to weave a fibre by hand. It is knowing the origin of what you wear. It is entering an extraordinary place and immediately feeling at ease.

True luxury does not need to be continually explained.

It is felt.

That is why I do not dream of seeing Panama Hatters everywhere.

I prefer to find it in the places where it can truly be understood: great hotels, resorts, yacht clubs, golf clubs and destinations capable of creating lasting memories.

Exclusivity does not come from keeping people away.

It comes from remaining precise in what you choose.

To make Panama Hatters the international reference for those seeking the authentic Panama, interpreted through Italian design and elegance.

I do not want to lose the origin in pursuit of growth.

I want to grow precisely because of that origin.

The future will bring new destinations, collections dedicated to travellers, collaborations with hotels and special projects capable of bringing together craftsmanship, innovation and personalisation.

But the centre will remain unchanged.

A natural fibre.

The hands of an artisan.

An Italian eye.

And someone ready to depart.

I would like them to remember a feeling.

Not necessarily the moment of purchase, but the place where they encountered their hat.

A terrace overlooking the sea.

A summer on Lake Como.

An island.

A journey by boat.

A golf course.

A person.

Years later, when they hold that Panama again, should it return them to that moment, then the hat will have acquired its most authentic value.

Because truly meaningful objects do more than accompany our image.

They preserve a part of our lives.