Fernández y ROCHE is positioned as the benchmark hat brand in Spain, both because it is one of the few brands with its own factory that carries out the entire creation process and its importance at an international level. It is an institution that makes the city of Seville overflow with pride. Precisely because of its status, this brand has appeared in the document of the month in the historical archive of the province where it was born and grew.
The hats from this factory have been with us for more than a century. They have served as protection against inclement weather and decoration and even to differentiate social strata, among other uses.
At first, as its name indicates, it was made to provide shade, but not only, since it was also part of rituals, as the Venus de Willendorf shows us. In the culture of the Greco-Latin world, women could not cover their heads. This convention lasted until the 16th century.
In the 19th century, its use spread throughout the world, especially in Europe and America. With sewing machines’ appearance, their production became massive, thus causing hats to become another clothing accessory.
Spain was one of those countries in which the garment not only opened a timid hole but was devastating. Seville was the production epicenter of this growing trend. However, it was not until the last quarter of a century that the industry was modernized.
And amid all this boom, in an alley on Castellar Street, was the Fernández y ROCHE hat factory, savoring success and fame from the beginning. Its famous chimney can still be seen in Seville, the same one that has been standing since 1917.
Fernández y ROCHE was born in 1885 by the Sevillians Antonio Fernández Caro and Antonio Roche Verdugo, to whom the brand owes its name. With more than 500 workers and 4,000m2 of factory area, the brand quickly advanced to fame while improving the Sevillian economy by creating more jobs. Their advanced technology prepared them to control the national market by producing all kinds of hats; wide brim, English style, and a long etcetera.
With the arrival of the 20th century, they managed to enter the international market. Their way of reaching all corners of the world was such that they were awarded the extraordinary prize in the Ibero-American exhibition of 1929, but as in all stories, there is always a turning point, which in this case was the crisis that the industry milliner suffered in the twentieth century.
Different factors determined this situation: the world wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the disuse of the accessory by the Duke of Windsor, a great fashion icon. As a result of this devastating event, Industrias Sombrereras Españolas S.A was born as a merger of different factories in the sector: Carmela López Palarea (from Seville) two other factories, one from Granada and the other from Catalonia.
In this new stage, they surrounded themselves with 800 workers, necessary to complete the entire cycle of creating the hat. This process was divided into three different branches. Rabbit or hare hair was made in Barcelona. The other two branches were located in Seville: in the old headquarters, felt was made, and hats were made in Arroyo street. The latter closed in 1954, focusing everything on Calle Castellar (former headquarters of Fernández y ROCHE). Today, the factory is located in the industrial area of Los Llanos (Seville), where they moved in 2005.
They are trendsetters, Jews from half the world choose their hats, exported felts everywhere, their sales are almost entirely foreign, and supply the aristocracy. Due to all this and much more, it’s the great reference brand of hats and, therefore, the one chosen as the document of the month in the historical archive of the province.
Fernández y ROCHE.
- Visit our website: https://www.fernandezyroche.com/gb/
- Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fernandezyroche/
- Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fernandezyroche_hats/
- Visit our store: C/Rosario 17 (Seville)
- Contact us: tiendafyr@isesa.es / +34 954 91 47 32