Hi Everyone!
I’m back with yet another blogpost! This time I’m gonna take you to MonPanama Store in Bangkok. This store is quite famous for its luxurious and chic style Panama hats, hand-woven bags and unique accessories in Bangkok.
I visited MonPanama store a couple of days ago and had a chance to meet the owner of the Brand Anne-Claude. She’s an extremely passionate, inspiring and hard working entrepreneur. It was such a pleasure meeting her and to see her collection of hats, bags and various useful and unique accessories.
Annie is a Swiss expat who has lived and worked in Thailand for many years. She’s always been drawn to Panama hats since she was a small girl. Over the years, her fascination surrounding this legendary and mysterious sunshade kept growing and the rest as they say is history. You can read about Her MonPanama Journey HERE
I truly believe that the vibe of a store can tell you a lot about the brand including its owner and its products. MonPanama store has a very creative and authentic vibe with a range of unique and interesting genuine handmade items. You can see and feel Annie’s love and passion for her products as soon as you enter the showroom. I absolutely love the vibe of the store!
About MonPanama Products
All materials used in making MonPanama products are natural, sustainable, and ethically sourced. Besides Panama hats, the collection comprises sheep wool felt hats handcrafted by Ecuadorian artisans, wicker bags made by Thai artisans and various functional travel hat accessories. Annie has been working with most skilled artisans from around the world using premium quality raw materials to bring forth MonPanama Products! โฃโฃ
She collaborates directly with the local craftsmen using natural and sustainable materials which are unique such as grey sedge, water hyacinth and cowhide leather. All accessories are finished by hand and will age beautifully by developing a natural patina over time.
The Panama Hat
Panama hat is made of the toquilla palm, which is renowned for its beauty, durability, and flexibility. During the labour-intensive manufacturing process, all MonPanama hats pass through the hands of over 20 skilled artisans, each specialized in a different skill, including weaving, dyeing, washing, and shaping. Each hat features a stamp of authenticity signifying it has been created in a certified workshop in Ecuador. Due to the natural properties of the toquilla palm and the fact that each hat is individually handwoven, small variations can be expected in the weave, the color and the brim width, all of which combines to create the unique character of each artisan handcrafted hat.
Water Hyacinth Bags
The sturdier and honey-colored bags are made of water hyacinth. The harvesting and transformation of the freshwater hyacinth into bags is a long and labour-intensive process. The plant is extracted from the water, washed, sorted, dried, plaited and eventually the weaving can start which can last from 1-3 days depending on the design. Woven water hyacinth is highly textured, giving it a wonderfully natural feel. To protect and strengthen the exquisite workmanship, the straw is coated with a fine layer of lacquer sprayed onto it during the final stage of the labour-intensive manufacturing process. This lacquer coating makes the bags highly durable with little maintenance required.
Grey Sedge Bags
The lighter and more flexible bags are made of grey sedge, a natural grass from the south of Thailand. Traditionally, this natural grass was woven to be used in various ways throughout the home. Weavers get up early mornings to pick the grey sedge, which is then dried for a few days. Then the stalks are pressed by machine and dyed before woven into specified designs. The bags are embellished with various local materials, such as genuine cowhide leather, gold-plated brass, quality zippers, strong magnets and featuring beautiful soft lining.
Creative Process
Annie mentions that her creative process when developing new products can be messy, in a wonderful kind of way. New designs and materials are constantly being explored combining traditional crafts techniques. Sometimes she starts first with the design idea, and other times the beginning of the creative process starts with a specific raw material. Knowledge and experience have made the design process easier and smoother over time.
Other than these above famous products MonPanama also offers other accessories like hat boxes, magnetic hat holders, hat organizers, portable eyeglass holders, hat fillers, detachable leather straps, eyeglass cases, suitcase hat holders, phone case bags etc.
You can visit following links to know more about MonPanama;
- Production of the Panama Hat
- Working with Female Artisans
- Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Sourcing Guide
- How to Travel with Your Panama Hat
๐ช๐ก๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ง๐๐ฆ๐?โฃโฃ
๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅโฃโฃ
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅโฃโฃ
๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ดโฃโฃ
๐๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ดโฃโฃ
๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ โฃโฃ
๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ดโฃโฃ
Meet Lauren my New Friend
This bag you see in the picture is Lauren. Itโs been handwoven with love using water hyacinth straws and bamboos. It has gorgeous golden MonPanama tag which makes it even more gorgeous. The weave is highly textured and feels so natural. I love the color, the intricate designs and the detailed craftmanship of this bag. This lacquer coated bag is super durable and needs very low maintenance.โฃโฃ It comes with a dustbag.
Just look at the details and the design of this bag. You can see how much time, effort, love, and thought have gone into creating this beauty. This bag is perfect for summer vacations! You can take her to the beach or park or wherever you wanna take her. โฃโฃNo matter where you take her she will make you look classy and gorgeous for sure! โฃโฃ
Do you know how much time, efforts and labour it takes to create bags like Lauren?
I bet you don’t. I didn’t know either but now I know. Annie has written her whole story about how she met a local artisan family and how they started working together to create unique water hyacinth products. You can read about her story and whole step by step process of creating water hyacinth bags HERE.
โฃโฃIn conclusion, Mon Panama is a perfect place to shop for sustainable products like Panama hats, vintage style hat boxes, high quality hand woven bags and unique accessories in Bangkok. One of the reasons I love this brand is that they are helping a lot local artisans and businesses to earn their livelihood. To know more about Monpanama, you can log on to their website www.monpanama.com or visit their social media pages!
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/monpanama
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monpanama
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/monpanamathailand
PINTEREST:
I hope this post was helpful to you!
PS: Have you ever shopped from MonPanama?
If you have then share your your experience below!
Lot’s Love V