Hat making comes home to 32 Guildford Street in the Hat District

Top left: Managing Director Mavi Tzaig with Cllr Malik, Mayor of Luton explains the hat blocking process,

The Panama Hat Company held a special Open Day in February, with Cllr Tahir Malik, Mayor of Luton and guests, to celebrate its move to Hat House in the autumn. The Panama Hat Company relocated from High Town in Luton to the newly restored Hat House once home to several hat manufacturers including S Hubbard Ltd, reported to be the world’s biggest felt producing company in the 1930s.

The international manufacturer of these genuine panamas, handwoven in Ecuador and manufactured in Luton, now occupies 1,700 sq ft on the ground floor of Hat House. This hat making studio in the heart of Luton also sells to online customers around the world and offers factory tours and bespoke fittings to clients by appointment.

Mavi Tzaig, Managing Director of the Panama Hat Company said: "We are delighted to be joining the Culture Trust in preserving and maintaining Luton and UK's heritage. We look forward to receiving customers in our new premises in this beautifully restored building. The return of a hat manufacturer to the town centre is a significant milestone in reviving the Hat District’s hat making heritage."

In the news

The Panama Hat Company's move to the Hat District was featured on BBC Look East in November. On 10 February 2020, Luton's hat making heritage was also featured on the BBC's Inside Out (East) programme.

FInd out more about The Panama Hat Company

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Hat House Topping Out Ceremony 1 March in the #HatDistrict

Friday 1 March saw the ‘topping out’ of the external works of Hat House in Guildford Street, the first of Luton Culture's Hat District creative cluster of buildings. Madam Mayor of Luton, Cllr Naseem Ayub, assisted by Mark Smalley of Neville Construction lifted a floorboard on the top floor with a golden crowbar to initiate the start of internal works in the building.

In her speech, the Mayor said:

"I would like to thank Luton Culture for buying this run-down building, fundraising for its development, and for having the vision to make this old Hat Factory into a vibrant creative workplace once more.

"My thanks also extends to SEMLEP (South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership) who have invested £3.9m of Local Growth Fund into this building, and three others being developed in the vicinity, as part of the Hat District project. We value this investment in our town and into arts and cultural enterprises like this."