Cover image courtesy of NINAKURU
A solid sustainable hat can be the perfect accessory to instantly elevate any outfit — and these brands certainly have you covered with beautiful, handmade hats you’ll treasure for years to come.
While many summer vacations and other outings have been put on hold, one of the few places we can venture out to is outdoor open areas. Restrictions and situations vary by region, but I’m still taking walks in nature and am looking forward to the day when it’s warm enough to sit outside in my backyard, put on a wide-brimmed hat, and dive into a good book!
If you’re in need of a hat for the sunny days ahead, these brands have lovely selections of hats made from all-natural materials. Now more than ever, it’s important for us to support small ethical and sustainable brands!
Price Range: $ = Under $100 | $$ = $100-$200 | $$$ = $200+
Note that this guide includes partners and affiliates. As always, I only feature brands I believe in and which meet high standards for ethics, sustainability, and style.
1. NINAKURU
This Ojai, California-based eco-luxe artisan brand designs and creates exceptional handmade hats and bags from responsibly-sourced materials including sustainable toquilla straw and cruelty-free wool. The NINAKURU team partners with skilled master artisans in Ecuador who craft the brand’s bespoke and ready-to-wear luxury products. By collaborating directly with these talented makers and sourcing high-quality materials that the artisans may have not otherwise been able to afford, NINAKURU ensures that these artisans earn living wages while preserving their centuries-old craft and traditions.
And did I mention NINAKURU’s hats are seriously stunning? They’re all beautiful, but if I had to pick favorites, I’d choose the Baxter and Juno styles!
Conscious Qualities: Fairly made, natural materials
Price Range: $$$
2. Amour Vert
Amour Vert sources chic, sustainable hats from Janessa Leone, an LA-based accessories brand. These high-quality, minimalist hats are designed to be worn season after season.
Janessa Leone’s lightweight summer hats are slowly and thoughtfully crafted in the brand’s factory in the US from toquilla straw sourced from Ecuador, making every hat one-of-a-kind. The label’s wool hats are made from cruelty-free sheep’s wool and are cleaned and dyed in an employee-owned factory in the U.S.
Conscious Qualities: Locally handmade, natural materials,
Price Range: $$ – $$$
3. Accompany
Accompany has hats from Intiearth and Artesano, two artisan-made brands with fair trade practices. Intiearth partners with artisan groups and fair trade workshops in Peru, who craft traditional hats from natural materials like toquilla straw, which are sourced directly from the locals to ensure they earn fair wages.
Artesano works alongside artisans in Ecuador who work out of their homes so that they can earn a livelihood while caring for their families. Through their work, these artisans are helping sustain traditional, generations-old crafts. The brand also only uses sustainably-sourced natural materials like toquilla straw, mocora straw, and tagua seeds.
Conscious Qualities: Ethically made, natural materials
Price Range: $$
4. Pachacuti
Founded by Carry Somers (the co-founder of Fashion Revolution), Pachacuti is an ethical hat brand with exceptional sustainable hats made in Ecuador from consciously-sourced quality materials. To reduce waste and ensure sustainable production, each Pachacuti hat is custom-sewn by the brand’s own milliner.
The company also has implemented in-depth accountability and traceability practices in their supply chain. Pachacuti is able to trace back where each of their hats was woven and exactly where their straw was sourced.
Conscious Qualities: Fair Trade practices, transparent supply chain
Price Range: £ – ££
5. Equal Uprise
Equal Uprise’s gorgeous hats are made by 4th and 5th generation hat makers, Zoila and Carlos. The pair run a family-owned workshop in Iluman, a small Indigenous town in Ecuador, and provide sustainable employment and healthcare for their team. In Zoila and Carlos’ workshop, artisans craft stunning hats made from wool that’s been locally-sourced from sheep just 150 miles away from Iluman. The wool is also cleaned and manufactured into felt at a local Ecuadorian mill.
Conscious Qualities: Ethical production, local natural materials
Price Range: $ – $$
6. Greenpacha
Greenpacha founders Julieta and Florencia Gomez Gerbi partner with women weavers in Ecuador who create sustainable hats from toquilla straw using traditional techniques. The brand fuses contemporary design with age-old crafts to create exceptional hats that celebrate this pre-Colombian art craft.
Conscious Qualities: Heritage crafts, natural materials
Price Range: $$ – $$$
7. G. Viteri
An Ecuador-based accessories brand, G. Viteri’s straw hats and felt hats are all completely handmade by artisans in Ecuador using natural materials like toquilla straw and wool. Good on You reports that the brand also upcycles any offcuts and utilizes recycled post-consumer materials for their packaging.
Conscious Qualities: Natural material, low waste practices
Price Range: $ – $$
8. Yestadt Millinery
Yesstadt Millinery is a luxury accessories brand creating custom-made hats with classic silhouettes. The label’s hats are skillfully made in New York and New Jersey (and some of their straw hats are made by artisan partners in other parts of the world, like Haiti and Ecuador). The majority of finishing is done right at Yestadt’s downtown NYC studio. There isn’t much information given about the sourcing practices for the hats made in places outside of the US.
Conscious Qualities: Some hats are locally made, most hats finished locally
To Note: Doesn’t provide a lot of transparency about the hats made outside of the US
Price Range: $$$
9. Yellow 108
Based in Los Angeles, Yellow 108 creates eco-friendly hats and other accessories from natural materials like merino wool and seagrass straw as well as recycled materials such as salvaged leather. The hats are made in the USA, but the brand does not provide much information beyond that, so it is not possible to discern if these hats are ethical.
Conscious Qualities: Natural or salvaged/recycled materials
To Note: Can’t determine if hats are ethically made based on information available on Yellow 108’s website.
Price Range: $$
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