The everyday hat: the popularity of conical hats from Chuong craft village has made 'non Chuong' virtually a brandname in Vietnam. Duc Hanh explains the power behind Vietnam's most recognisable hat.(INSIDE VIETNAM)(Column)

I had pictured craftsmen sewing conical hats inside brown tile-roofed houses in Chuong village, where thousands of conical hats (non la-literally leaf hat) are produced daily, meaning it's considered the home of the conical hat in today's Vietnam. But I hadn't expected a main thoroughfare lined with multi-storey houses and shops flogging electric equipment, the latest fashions and canned food.

However amongst these symbols of progress and modernism, I see a smattering of conical hats on the heads of old women chewing betel nuts and young girls, all dressed in pink blouses, sitting around gossiping.

Away from the bustling market, in a more tranquil part of the village, I discover the engine room of conical hat production. A man in shorts and a T-shirt carries a pile of leaves towards a girl, who turns the leaves over in the sun. These leaves will be plaited through a bamboo frame to make a conical hat.

Further along the dyke, an old woman …