It's their original bowler hat made with Portuguese rabbit hair.
The design hasn't changed and it's one of the traditional hat for men in Portugal.
They are the original barets made with Portuguese wool.
There is a small space in the back of the shop where the current owner told me that it was used to be a workshop making customized hats in the old times but now it's a storage / office.
"Chapelaria Azevedo Rua"
- Hat shop in Lisbon since 1886 -
When you are in the shop and know the history, you will start appreciating the love and dedications that each generations have given to it.
I love being in the space and watching the beautiful hats, trying to restrain my lust for trying on all the hats available...
I wanted to know more about the shop and the makers. The current owner, Mr. Pedro Fonseca, who is the great-great-grandson of the founder kindly answered my questions.
FEP-What kind of hats were sold in the shop when it opened in 1886?
Mr. Fonseca-Originally the store was only for men's hats, that's why we only used to sell classic hats made of felt for gentlemen.
-Who designed those hats?
-The hats were made here in the shop, by seamstresses and hatmakers and were made according to the taste of customers and the shape of head.
-What is good about the traditional hats?
-It is a hat that can be used at any time, which always gives a good looking aspect to who uses it.
-What are the advantages of using skin of rabbit?
-Quality and durability of the material.
-Today who are your customers? Tourists? Local? Or other?
-50% Tourists, 50% Local
-Which hat is most popular?
-In the summer the Panama hat and in winter the man's berets.
-The current store is similar to the original one? Or has it been changed over the years?
-The store has been restored but has maintained the original outlines which has never been changed.
-What is it that you like about Lisbon?
-The diversity of people, the cultures, the climate and the rich history of the city.
I love their shop and the quality hats and I'm so glad to have known them.
Hope they keep making their long history even longer :)
colourful and stylish hats filling up the show case
The both of the shops are not big but very charming with the great classic designs of the shop interiours! and that's what I love this places about. The ceiling is clean white with old decorative sculptures and almost everything else is made in wood including the show cases, the shelves and the counters.
This is one of the oldest shops in Lisbon and one of my favourite places! They are a maker of the classic and high quality hats, and the shop has been there since 1886 through the five generations! It has actually 2 shops, only one door apart from each other, and they are located in a corner of the square D. Pedro IV near Rossio train station.
They are so soft and great quality. Inside the hat sees the maker's stamp.
Panama hats, made with Portuguese rabbit hair. Very classic and still stylish.
The founder, Manuel Aquino de Azevedo, was making port wine in the north of Portugal but grape phylloxera destroyed his yard. In 1886, he came to Lisbon to open the hat stores. For decades it dictated the fashion among ladies and, above all, gentlemen, who exhibited its bowler hats and top hats in the gatherings at the cafes.
The business, however, would only truly reach the female population in 1988, when the grandson and great-grandson of the founder took over the business, restoring the space, investing in the feminine side and coming into contact with suppliers from various countries, in an attempt to upgrade and modernize the hats business.