Tuesday, December 16, 2014

DEER Basques - The End

Kongo Shokai, the manufacturer of the DEER Basque berets stops to exist from May 2015.
The historic hat manufacturer (since 1928) simply can't compete in today's economic climate. Much of the manufacturing of the DEER Basques is specialized hand work; in combination with the ever decreasing Japanese Yen, the high running costs of the factory and the very slim profit margins, survival is not possible.
Personally, I feel really sad. The DEER Basque is an exceptional quality artisan beret that, in both craftsmanship and comfort, can compete with the very best French and Spanish berets. For years now, the wool DEER Basque has been my beret of choice during the NZ summer, changed occasionally for the linen version of this beret. 
Worse even, my stock of DEER Basques is running very low. I have put in  last order and I keep my fingers crossed that these will be made still... (if so, it will be March before these arrive).
The present stock is available here.

4 comments:

  1. Another one bites the dust compliments of Chinese and Indian cheap knock-offs! Support Boinas Elosegui from Spain...

    Cheers

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  2. As long a people want something for little money, they will continue to support the cheap crap and contribute to the demise of the real craftspeople. Far better to buy a high quality beret than to settle for the cheap trash. I wonder if people are so accoustomed to the low-end products that they no longer remember what the excellent things are like. It's kind of like drinking so much cheap wine and forgetting what the good stuff tastes like. When I bought my first beret I told Daan I wanted a high-end beret as I wasn't going to mess around with the low-end berets in the stores. I've never regretted spending more money for the wonderful quality berets he's sold to me.

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  3. Daan do you still have Deer Berets in 59cm?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately not, the DEER Basques are true history now. I wish I could answer differently...

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