-- The EC Bow Tie, the world’s first 100% toquilla straw bow tie inspired by traditional Panama hats, is live on global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and raising funds to bring the project to life.
CULTO® is a sustainable and fair trade supporting luxury brand revaluing the culture behind the wrongly named -but perfectly made- Panama hat from Ecuador. First created more than a century ago in Ecuador, the Panama hat represents a time honored tradition steeped in history, culture and craftsmanship. A single hat can take months to create and at least 5 people are involved in the production from start to finish. It is this labor of love which inspires CULTO to elevate this tradition from a platform of crafts to one of art.
“My mission as a hat curator is to fairly represent the weavers of Ecuador and connect them to consumers worldwide, ensuring fair prices on both ends and guaranteeing the highest standards of quality,” says founder and CEO Hugo Gonzenbach on the inspiration behind the project. “The comprehension of this art includes its history and its cultural importance for Ecuador and humankind, the production and harvest of the ‘toquilla’ in the mountains, and all of the steps leading up until the hat is ready to wear. I only work with the very best in their respective fields and from here I expanded the company and its mission.”
Taking this love of the art of Panama Hats, CULTO has created the world’s first straw bow tie, made totally by hand as the famed Panama hats. It is made by weaving with crochet a total 200 meters of the best quality of toquilla fiber carefully processed by the top weavers of Ecuador. As a symbol of authenticity, purity and transformation, the logo of CULTO has been subtly added in 18 karat gold. The EC Bow Tie includes 3 strips in different colors (black, brown, navy blue) that wearers can manually change to increase its versatility to combine with different suits including the tuxedo. In addition, the first 100 bow ties offered in the campaign are individually numbered which will allow supporters to know exactly who the weavers are behind the product.
As a second offering for the crowdfunding campaign, CULTO is pleased to introduce their first in-house publication titled ‘Hats from the Heart,’ a book that will take readers on a step by step journey through the making of the fine weave Montecristi Panama hats, literally the finest hats in the world. This is the first book of its kind and it will be a milestone in the life of the weavers, a humble and beautiful people that have been kept in anonymity due to the long and unfair value chain that has persisted through history— a reality that started to change with the first hat that Gonzenbach curated.
“I started CULTO® to develop outstanding and never created before products and experiences for clients worldwide, as well as to guide and provide the precise information of every hat that I sell, from the person who weaves it to the type of pattern on the hat's surface which varies according to the origin of the hat in Ecuador. My specialty is the fine-weave Montecrisiti hat, woven in the little town of Pile where all the inspiration of CULTO comes from. The art from Pile is a divine creation of humanity,” adds Gonzenbach, whose work has led him collaborate with prestigious institutions worldwide as the MoMA in NYC and UNESCO in Paris.
The EC Bow Tie from CULTO is now live and available to support on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/culto/ec-bow-tie-the-son-of-the-panama-hat-also-made-in-ecuador
About CULTO
CULTO is a sustainable luxury brand that revalues the culture of the “Panama” hat from Ecuador. Founded by Hugo Gonzenbach, the first Panama hat curator, CULTO sells, under fair trade principles and high-quality standards, the finest hats from Ecuador and develops different products using toquilla straw as its flagship material. The brand launches in 2019 the first toquilla bow tie ever to be made, EC Bow Tie, a true jewel worth to collect that rescues the origin that hat lost more than a century ago: Ecuador. CULTO is also the editorial company of HATS FROM THE HEART, the first book dedicated to the master weavers of Pile, to show the process and culture behind the finest hats in the world.
For more information on CULTO please visit www.cultoofficial.com and www.instagram.com/culto.official
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Contact Info:
Name: Chris Woods
Email: Send Email
Organization: CULTO
Website: https://www.cultoofficial.com/
Release ID: 88938865
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