Even with a virus affecting the economy and not offering staple goods, Sylvia set up a solo business in the hope that made in Portugal, the added value of sustainability and the fashion trends themselves are breathtaking. “I would say that this is starting to gain popularity, the demand for hats is already higher, there are much more hitchhikers than what has already happened with the Spaniards and the French,” he sums up. In addition to the classics, Lemonade Collective is revealed in other variants – beach hats for summer days and fabric models made from fabrics stopped in Portuguese factories. So far, sales have been mainly in the domestic market.
“I wanted to create more than just a beautiful hat brand,” he admits. The business woman wanted to impose values on the product itself and launch a brand based on social inclusion. That is why, for every product sold, one euro is returned to the Portuguese Association of People with Trisomy 21. A trend that it wants to develop in the future with this and other community organizations.
“Did you know that we have the largest manufacturer of headwear felts in the world?” – the question asks Jose Gaspard during a conversation about the Portuguese vocation for hats. Belongs to FEPSA, a giant if São João da Madeira has been on the market for over 50 years, being the main supplier of raw materials for Umber, a brand launched in December 2020 with Katarina Vassalo, renowned jewelry and accessories designer.
The idea was in their heads even before the pandemic. “Apart from being bald and clearly enjoying hats, in a country with so much sun, we didn’t have such big brands,” he continues. So I counted on know how his business partner who once dedicated himself hat in the land of his majesty. However, getting to know the city of hats and discovering their most talented hands was a surprise.
Currently, most of the production is carried out in a small factory in São João da Madeira, employing four people, but there is an opportunity to involve others. “These are very small buildings and many of the existing artisans are hard to find. Some of the great tradition of hats has been lost, and it scares me that ten years from now, when some of these people start dying, no one knows who will continue the work, ”he says in an interview with the Observer.
