Millinery as a profession can be dated to around 16th century England – although hats have had a long relationship with humans across many ages and regions of the world. When my mum married my dad in the early 90s, she had a custom wide-brim hat made layered in silk with a micro-veil – and only until now, with the revival we see around headwear, has the utter brilliance and originality of this make sense to me. Connect Everything Collective founder, Candice Erasmus, and I were invited by the REAL Crystal Birch (a nod to her stance when obtaining her website URL years ago, of which the name Crystal Birch had been taken to promote a novel) to the incredible Hat Factory in Foreshore, Cape Town. It was a fever dream walking the open-plan factory floor; a juxtaposition of shapes and colours in fabric and trim, set against an astounding array of early 20th hydraulic press machines with hundreds of different types of metal hat blocks.
Crystal’s team of artisanal hat-makers rotate different tasks, chatting and enlivening a space that we tend to associate as being ominous; the factory. I certainly always conjure up grim images of our continually mechanized future – or the sweatshop crisis we see unfolding in the fashion industry. The Hat Factory is totally different in this respect; Crystal’s office is barely private, assembled from vintage panels that only have half of it fitted, and a door that only closes for supplier meetings. This open plan space and collaborative energy was not always the case, and Crystal tells us that a year ago, when she bought the factory rights from her mentor Harry Faktor (the company was previously Parisian Milliners, founded in 1936) – the previous building ceased the lease agreement effective immediately, and they had three days to move everything to a new location; “No moving company was interested in helping us – they wouldn’t even quote me. These machines are insanely heavy, and for the average moving company, to even begin to work out how to fit and lift them was probably a nightmare they didn’t need. So I did what I had to do – I called the rigging crew from the film Mad Max, and they didn’t even ask what we were moving. They just showed up with 10-tonne trucks and did it all in a day.”
If you know Crystal, you will know that her exuberance and impassioned energy is totally infectious – Candice and I sit listening in awe as she recounts the multiple moving parts it takes to go from designer and making hats, to leading the full-scale operation of The Hat Factory; of which The Real Crystal Birch label is a part, but not all of the hats that are made; “It’s been interesting, because the hat revival is taking place now – especially in the sense of fashion, where I have been able to collaborate with incredible designers – but catering to small scale, direct clients who have always bought their hats with our factory has been tricky. They are from a different time, I have the old invoicing books and the total cost of the special-occasion hats cost R30.00 – R35.00 to make. Fast track to 2022, mark-ups for materials have gone up by about 300% – let alone the total sum of all the materials being 30 bucks – so doing costings has been so eye-opening, because I think people assume hats like ours can be made on an assembly line. On the contrary, it is really the hands of the team that ensures our quality and design language is constantly being elevated.”
One of the other positive outcomes of the pandemic has been Crystal’s connection to two other hat factories and South African institutions; Simon & Mary and Carmi Hatters in Johannesburg. “I think I am the special freaky one out of the three of us – and we have been able to start these relationships which previously didn’t exist. So if I cannot do a big order – say a huge church hat order – I will send it to them, and vice-versa if they have a smaller, perhaps more detail-oriented order request. This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for lockdown – but I think a lot of us realised our survival depended on each other, and industries had to find a way to come together to preserve the common goal we all share for local manufacturing.” Crystal’s label has a cult-like following in South Africa – with creatives and fashion insiders alike, but also an often unspoken sartorial audience such as political delegates, church women and the races. The newest market that she is tapping into is dermatology; “Because of the cancer association, it should be part of your beauty routine in the sun! I’m always like you’ve got your SPF and sunnies, but where is the hat? It’s so critical, especially here in Africa – and while my hats are interesting and unique, they are also functional. Hats are critical for sun protection.”
We are so honoured to have been welcomed into the Hat factory, and to feel the pure love and commitment Crystal has in nurturing this craft and all the experts she has on her team. With events, collections and collaborations ahead; watch this space – The Real Crystal Birch.
Follow the label’s movements on Instagram at: @therealcrystalbirch
Or visit their website: https://therealcrystalbirch.com
Better yet, pop into the space – with a front room display – at 1st Floor, 42 Newmarket Street, Cape Town.
Written by: Holly Bell Beaton
