Do you want to know everything there is to know about hats?
You’ll find all the answers to your questions in Quercy Caussadais! More precisely in Caussade and Septfonds.
Their history, the know-how, the fashions, etc. Hats will no longer hold any secrets for you…
Hat making in Quercy Caussadais, a long story!
Living history museum: L’Épopée Chapelière
Discover a unique know-how!
Put on your “canoguide” and take an immersive journey into the world of straw hats, in the company of key players in the hat industry since 1789. Follow a path strewn with stories, hats and interactive videos, and discover the secrets of an epic story and of hat-making expertise in a bucolic atmosphere.
Embark on a unique experience with your family,
as a group or with friends! Head for the Caussade Tourist Office.
Visit the Hats Blocks Laforest hat block-making workshop!
Don’t be shy! Come into Didier’s workshop, one of France’s two remaining hat block makers. You will learn the well-kept secrets of a rare artisanal technique, classified by UNESCO!
From a simple plank of lime (linden) wood, chip after chip, piece after piece, Didier Laforest sculpts unique and singular hat shapes.
Breathe in and enjoy the soft, natural scent of the wood…
Guided tours from June to September.
Quercy Caussadais hat-making workshops
Willy’s Paris Hat Store in Caussade
If you’re expecting an industrial production, you’ll be disappointed… Willy’s Paris
has been making hats for six generations using rare and time-honored materials. Founded in 1854, the workshop is still owned by the same family and has been awarded the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label.
In the factory store you will find
many original and sought-after models…
Guided tours are organized from June to September
Crambes hat workshop in Caussade
The Crambes workshop was created in 1946 by Auguste Crambes in Caussade. It has about 40 employees. Some 400 hats and caps are produced every day in over 80,000 sq.ft. of space, sold mostly under the registered trademarks of Ets CRAMBES. Its know-how and equipment allow it to work with various types of material. There is also a factory store on site!
Guided tours are organized all year round
Coustillères hat workshop in Septfonds
In 1920, Marius Coustillères set up his hat business with a workshop in Rue de l’industrie
to manufacture straw hats. In 1948, Louis Coustillères opened a new workshop
. Since 1981, Jean-Claude Coustillères has developed the production of his father
and diversified his collection.
The workshop is closed to the public
The Marieckou Association
Through her association, Marieckou uses her creativity to promote reuse of materials and hat-making techniques.
La Mounière Heritage Remembrance Museum, Septfonds
This old house was once home to Raymond Peyrières, a manufacturer of berets and a communist resistant, deported in 1944 to Dachau. In this living history museum, you will discover the hat making trade and the story of straw in the 19th century. Two other themes are also on the menu: the reception of the Spanish refugees from the Retirada, and the life of the famous aviator Dieudonné Costes.
The Summer Hat Festival
The Summer Hat Festival is held every year in July in Caussade. Not to be missed: the international hat competition, the parades, the village of milliners from all over the world and the reconstruction of an old hat workshop in the center of Caussade.
The event lasts four days and attracts tens of thousands of visitors… so why not you?
A smartphone scavenger hunt for teens and families!
The Caussade Tourist Office and Pays Midi-Quercy have organized a tour on the theme of hat making, based on a story told by Jonas and Lyra. While exploring Caussade, Jonas succumbs to temptation and buys a hat… then catastrophe strikes: on leaving the store, a gust of wind carries his hat away! The two friends set out to look for it in Caussade and they need your help!
Armed with your smartphone, you must search for the clues hidden in Caussade, solve the riddles and find the right answers! The tour lasts about one and a half hours and is free.
Download the Baludik app on your smartphone, make your way to the location, and your adventure will begin!
No one could imagine Indiana Jones, Lucky Luke, Clint Eastwood or Pharrell Williams without their hats… or Maurice Chevalier without his Caussade straw boater!