HEADSPACE

Artist Lopi LaRoe is reviving her hat company HEADSPACE after a 25 year hiatus!

LaRoe originally began her haberdasher journey in 1989 in Eugene, Oregon after finding a piece of black velvet in an abandoned house. She transformed the scrap into a scarf hat which she began wearing around town. Her friends liked it and started asking her to sew one for them. One thing, as they say, led to another and soon she was creating velvet top hats and fez’s. Thus the birth of Hats Galumphy, which was the Seussian name she came up with. Eugene is an artist friendly town which has the Saturday Market and the Oregon Country Faire. The Market had a roaming vendor role that allowed artisans to pay a % of what they sell on that day. At the time, it was a honor system and made it extremely accessible for artists. I transformed an abandoned shopping cart into a Hat Booth on wheels and had a grand old time selling hats and eating delicious healthy foods from the vendors and dancing weekly to their musical guests. 

Next we find our intrepid artist embarking back to California where she eventually landed in the hills of Oakland, California. She used to sell hats amidst the vibrant street life of Telegraph Ave in Berkley. Back then everything was simpler; she was living in a Volvo station wagon and sewing on a borrowed machine. Selling one hat would provide gas and fruit money to go spend a week or so camping on the gorgeous and sublime Yuba River.

After the Oakland Firestorm of 1991 and a brief sojourn in the elusive town of Bolinas, she moved to Santa Cruz, which was at that time still recovering from the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. That was where her company, Headspace, was born. In the heart of the movement to legalize Hemp, she created thousands of hats out of a shed on Locust Street, soon adding a dance friendly pant design to her repertoire. She sold her hats in bulk to hemp stores across the US using a paper printed brochure. She also did direct sales at festivals around the state. The Headspace era lasted until about 2001, when she decided she’d had enough sewing for awhile and abruptly moved to NYC to study acting at the School for Film & Television in Manhattan. After dabbling in the actorly realm for a couple years, she became disillusioned with that scene and turned to painting which led to her return to academia where she was classically trained in oil painting and printmaking. This led her down many roads, these days, some very snowy ones in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Recently discovering an old plastic bin full of hemp fabric scraps in her sister’s basement, LaRoe’s love of sewing was rekindled. Which led to this moment with much anticipation. Hats are mystical, they create a safe space for wild and feral thoughts to roam free unencumbered by the scrutiny of the surveillance state. Hats are the metaphorical rug that really ties the room together, man. They are a talisman, a stash spot, a beacon of hope and a roof for your head. They communicate when words seem superfluous.

This new line are bespoke one of a kind hats made in Vermont. The finest wool scraps in the USA, rescued off the cutting room floor of a premier maker of rugged outdoor clothes right here in the Green Mountains, are stitched together to create each unique chapeau. Each one a mini work of art, you will never see another person wearing your beloved bonnet. In a world muddled by artificial stupidity, we crave smartly made authenticity. 100% Wyoming grown sheep’s wool, milled in Connecticut, with an artist’s touch to create a beautiful space for your head. Slow Fashion at it’s finest.

Check out our latest drop! The First 13 Hats are now listed in our store. Please Follow us on Instagram, linked below, where we will be sharing a treasure trove of old photos from the Headspace Archives along with new adventures in hats and more! Click on the photo below to navigate to the Store Page. Wholesale inquiries, please go HERE.

Coming soon: Toe Space. Handwoven Wool Rugs.