Crystal studied fashion design at the Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion in Stellenbosch, then went to London to learn millinery properly, training under Piers Atkinson and Noel Stewart, two of the city's sharpest hatmakers. She came home and started small, selling from a stand at the Old Biscuit Mill market in Woodstock on Saturday mornings, one hat at a time.

The real shift came in 2018, when she began training under Harry Faktor, the veteran behind Parisian Milliners, a hat manufacturer that had been steaming felt in Cape Town since 1936. Birch did not just learn the trade. She eventually took over the whole operation, kept the old machines and the wall of vintage hat blocks, and renamed it The Hat Factory. It is one of the stops on our Creative Cape Town Tour, and by the time guests leave they understand why eighty years of craft still matters.

What comes out of that factory ranges from wedding veils to wool felt fedoras, but the collections people talk about are the playful ones. Quack Attack, inspired by duck attacks on the beach. Wish You Weren't Here, all sunburnt holiday colour. A:Head, a Wild West-leaning collection with hats named Hunter, Willow, Rodeo and Ziggy. It is craftsmanship with a wink.