The Malagasy Panama: The success of straw by Émile Ranarivelo

The Malagasy Panama is the name given to the traditional Malagasy straw hat, now a symbol of rural men. However, in the early 20th century, this hat was highly popular and even exported successfully to Europe and America. Émile Ranarivelo, an exceptional individual, was the visionary behind this success.

The Malagasy Panama: A popular and elegant straw hat

When we think of a panama hat, a specific shape comes to mind. However, the term "panama" refers to the material rather than the shape, specifically a fiber made from the young shoots of bombanaxa, a palm tree native to Ecuador. Despite this, the hat’s shape became iconic.  

Originally worn by workers under the blazing sun, the lightweight and flexible panama hat gradually became associated with casual elegance. By the early 1900s, the panama hat was all the rage in Western fashion.  

This trend caught the attention of Émile Ranarivelo, a Malagasy entrepreneur, during the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Inspired, he envisioned a market for similar hats made from Malagasy straw. Thus, the "Malagasy Panama" was born.  

The extraordinary story of this rare self-made Malagasy man for his time is chronicled in Christine Ranarivelo’s novel Le Panama Malgache (2011, Éditions Harmattan). The author, married to Ranarivelo’s grandson, drew from their family archives to tell his story.  

The success of Émile Ranarivelo continues to resonate with his descendants and the Malagasy people. His finely crafted straw hats became immensely popular, with 80,000 Malagasy Panamas exported in 1908 and 220,000 in 1942. Their craftsmanship captivated European and American merchants, while Malagasies also embraced them, making the hat an inseparable part of rural life, especially for laborers, herders, and merchants.

The story of Émile Ranarivelo: The man behind the Malagasy Panama

Raharivelo (1870–1933), later known as Émile Ranarivelo, was the youngest son of Rakotovao (1829–1906), a Merina nobleman, royal secretary, advisor to Queen Ranavalona III, deacon, preacher, and businessman.  

After being let down by his eldest son, a disheartened Rakotovao fell seriously ill. Upon beginning his recovery, he called on Raharivelo, placing his hopes in him and entrusting him with his business ideas. At just 18 years old, the young Raharivelo began studying how to source materials such as leather, rubber, raffia, mats, wax, honey, and hats.  

A graduate of the LMS School and fluent in English, Raharivelo successfully expanded the family business.  

While traveling to Paris, he noticed that hats were widely worn by men, women, and children alike. This inspired him to introduce similar hats made from Malagasy raffia and rice straw. He quickly secured a distributor in Paris and returned to Madagascar to begin production.  

The hats were so successful that Ranarivelo made multiple trips to France. In 1910, he even acquired French citizenship, a rare achievement for an indigenous Malagasy at the time. He also became one of the first Malagasy men to marry a European woman, further solidifying his place in history.