Up for sale here is a hat from Chamula, a label run by the Meg Company, the same people that produce the Monitaly and Yuketen labels and overseen by Yuki Matsuda. Where Monitaly and Yuketen are almost entirely made in the US, Chamula is exclusively produced in Mexico. They specialize in hand-made garments, particularly hand-knit sweaters and leather shoes. Aside from being entirely hand made, Chamula also incorporates a lot of traditional Mexican motifs into their designs.
This is a rare earlier design from Chamula. It is one of their signature knit beanies, but done in a multicolor knit. The colorway reminds me of a lot of traditional Mexican motifs, which I suppose was the inspiration for this piece. This particular style of knit cap is no longer being produced by Chamula and not something I have personally come across elsewhere. Material is 100% merino wool. Chamula reportedly only uses wool from sheep grazing in the Mexican mountains, using hand-spun merino yarns and hand dyeing them. Chamula knitwear is just about as close as you can get to a fully handmade garment.
Being merino wool, the fabric is nicely insulating and in no way itchy. A quality wool is naturally heat regulating, providing more insulation in colder weather and becoming more breathable in warmer weather. This is just about some of the best quality you can get, making this cap a very good cold weather piece.
Chamula produces some truly excellent quality pieces, always in limited quantities and with limited availability. Still, they are well worth checking out if you haven’t already. These pieces retail at about $100, but get it here in excellent shape and at the cheapest price around.
This is a one size fits all piece and should accommodate most head sizes. It is on the somewhat slimmer side in my opinion. There is of course some stretch to the fabric, but unstretched (with the cuff as pictured) I measure the height at 9” and width at 9”. The hat comes in lightly used, excellent shape with no holes, tears or stains. Made in Mexico.
Shipping from Japan to everywhere will be $24. Shipping is free on the hat if you combine with another purchase.