Ecua-Andino Hats
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| Industry | Fashion |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | Édgar Sánchez y Alejandro Lecaro |
| Headquarters | Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Website | www.ecua-andino.com |
Ecua-Andino Hats is an Ecuadorian producer and exporter of Panama hats founded in 1985 by Alejandro Lecaro and Édgar Sánchez.[1][2][3][4]
Ecua-Andino produces hand-woven hats using fibers from the carludovica palmata, also known as toquilla. These natural fibers, found in Central America, are valued for being both soft and durable. The hats are made by over 3,500 artisans across five provinces in Ecuador, with approximately 200,000 exported each year.[5]
In 1985, Édgar Sánchez and Alejandro Lecaro started to sell local crafts, initially to tourists on the beach, and then from a small shop in the center of Guayaquil, Ecuador. In 1994, they decided to change the product range and concentrated on hats only. In 2012, UNESCO declared that the art of weaving a Panama hat in Ecuador was added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.[6] Today, the brand exports around 200,000 a year and sells 12,000 on Ecuador's national market.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Sánchez and Lecaro’s daughters joined the business, combining their European education with their Latin American background, which the founders consider important for the brand’s future.[5]