Doyin Aso Oke Satin Lined Bucket Hats!
Happy Pre-Friday Folks!
I’m still super excited about our AdeDoyin satin lined bucket hats because chiiiiile the amount of work that went into this was NOT easy! But we here! 😝
Now we launched back in June and the reception has been great, thank you all!! So I figured I should give a little history behind the concept, material etc and properly introduce Doyin!
What's special about Doyin bucket hats (with the exception that it's made by Skatsz haha, yall know we special.. in a great way ha!) is that some of the Doyin hats are made with Aso-Oke material (pronounced almost like ahhh-shaw-okay) - a West African print native to the Ondo people of Yoruba Nation in the Southwest region of present day Nigeria - where we (Skatsz) are from!
For as long as I could remember we've worn Aso-oke to birthday parties, to Nigerian weddings (if I can get my hands on some our pictures I'll update this post with it) to graduations - literally any occasion is Aso oke appropriate. So, when we were designing our bucket hats for the 2021 summer, it was a no-brainer to use the elegant, beautiful and rich material, Aso-oke.
(Excerpt from ONCHEK Blog) Aso-oke sometimes referred to as Aso-ebi is a special hand-woven cloth and over centuries has become somewhat of the style marker of the Yoruba nation. It was said to have been created in Yorubaland around the 15th century and since then spread around the land and its environs.
The cotton is then spun to separate the cotton seed from wool and a Spindler, known in Yoruba as ‘orun’ is used to achieve this. The weaver spreads the wool and processes it through the loom. As the Spindler turns repeatedly, the cotton thins and this is done until all the wool has been spun. The cotton is then cleaned and sorted which is done manually and can be very time-consuming.
Once the cotton is purified, the signature designs and patterns characteristic of Aso-oke are ready to be created. This is the process where designs and patterns are made on the Aso-Oke while the cloth is being woven. During the pattern process, cotton reels are hung upon the hangers on the sets of the metallic pegs on the ground. After everything has been prepared, the weaving can begin. (Ends excerpt)
The weaving, quite possibly the most important part of the process, is a delicate chore. The weaver deftly presses down on the pedals of the ‘orun’ and uses their hands to weave the material to create the signature designs in a variety of colors as seen in the Doyin hats above.
Aso-oke materials can be split into two categories; traditional and modern version. The multi colored Aso-oke are often the traditional more authentic materials - example the tan and cream bucket hats below.
The newer machine-made Aso-oke are usually singular colored like the purple above. While the material isn't any less of quality, it isn't the original/traditional material that goes through the hand woven process; thus some people prefer the latter - everyone's taste varies.
We (Skatsz) are extremely proud to be able to express our creativity while displaying some of our culture's beauty through our products - Doyin Aso-oke satin lined bucket hats!
All styles listed are currently available on our website 🤞🏿
xx
Zae
