ERRE is a seemingly simple hat made of hemp. With patience and care, we have overcome the challenges that arose when working with this resilient and rough material, which had been forgotten in an English warehouse since the 1980s. We have sought to transform it into the quintessence of head wear; something that covers your head and provides shelter, much like a nest.

“Erre” (letter “r” in Spanish) is the first letter of many concepts that are key to this project. “Erre” stands for the reclaimed, rescuing the abandoned to give it a new life. “Erre” symbolizes rebellion, renewing designs by reducing elements, and above all, “erre” represents a serene and organic response to the questions that arise around the way we make clothing nowadays.

The ERRE journey starts with thoroughly washing the hemp cones ensuring that mordants and natural dyes will adhere effectively. We apply homemade shellac in order to protect, polish, and provide the correct flexibility to this rugged material. We use particularly tall (28 cm) wooden hat blocks that are specially designed by us to shape each piece, one by one, using an iron, steam, and cords, finally folding the end outward into three pleats.

We then cut our leather sweatbands, and bevel and hot-stamp them. We meticulously hand-sew these to the hat, using a saddle stitch technique. The leather comes from centuries-old Spanish tanneries that still employ traditional vegetable tanning methods.

The colors showcased in this project are the outcome of a four-year journey experimenting with natural dyes and mineral modifiers. We can now proudly confirm that botanical dyes are an integral element of our workshop's DNA.

By dyeing ourselves, we achieved an extensive spectrum of vibrant tones that vary within the same color ranges. For ERRE, we have opted for the browns from walnut husks, the reds from madder root and the golden hues from unripe pomegranates. With some other mixtures of barks and fruit peels rich in tannin we have achieved a wide range of greys up to almost black, thanks to subsequent baths in iron. In some cases, we have used kakishibu to add warmth and softness to the fiber. The position of the material when drying, as well as its exposure to sunlight, also influences the darkening or lightening of hues, making each piece one-of-a-kind.