Once a permanent fixture on the heads of playboys and presidents alike, the once proud Panama hat is in danger of extinction.

The rise of the baseball cap, a decline in the number of skilled weavers in Ecuador, an increasing risk from cheap international knock-offs, especially from China, and other factors have all conspired to make the Panama a fashion relic, and its production as unpopular as ever.

But there may be hope for the hat, from an unlikely source.

Intermon Oxfam has set up the Chordeleg Artisan Centre where weavers are producing small number of Fairtrade Panama hats. The women are receiving training so that they can perfect techniques, weave higher quality hats with better finishes, and improve production and marketing. They have been able to increase the quantity and the price so that they can now make a living and maintain their traditions.

A fair trade Panama hat? Could milinery so beautifully mix politics and headwear? Regardless, its time for a Panama revival.

Artisan Center Chordeleg (translated) [Oxfam via Treehugger via Financial Times]