Photo courtesy of Terry T. Preshaw, Primordia Productions © 2004

My name is Heather Daveno. I created appliquéd clothing and accessories for the living history market for over twenty years. As a living historian, I developed a nomadic persona from the Himalayan plateau whom I called Lao. When I started making hats from my costume remnants, friends started calling them "Lao Hats" for lack of a better term. They quickly became popular, and owning one eventually became a status symbol within some circles of the organization.

Taking the advice from friends who knew I could develop a market outside of the living history groups, I launched Lao Hats as both a product brand and a business entity in Washington State.

I am inspired by the arts and cultures of medieval Europe, Russia and Eurasia. Influences in my work range from design elements from medieval Briton, Scandinavia, Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia, through the European Renaissance and the Canadian fur trapper eras. I have also taken designs from historical textiles, paintings and manuscripts, and have applied them to hats that are historically based, yet timeless.

I design and handcraft each Lao Hat from textiles salvaged from vintage coats and other reclaimed sources. Due to the nature of working with recycled textiles, no two Lao Hats are identical.

Lao Hats are as functional as they are decorative. They are as warm as they are durable. The hat on my home page is over ten years old. It has been camped in, rained on, and covered with mud when it fell in my garden one spring. Customers who acquired their hats as long as fifteen years ago, are still wearing them today.

If you would like to see what I am up to when I am not making hats, look for Heather Daveno on Facebook and selected public pages on Live Journal.

Charity Auctions
I support my local community by donating hats and funds to charities which benefit the homeless and underserved in Washington State. I donate 5% of retail sales to Real Change, a non-profit that organizes, educates, and builds alliances to create solutions to homelessness and poverty in Washington State. Additional information for many of the charities listed below can be found on my Humanitarian page.

• Soroptimist International 2008
• Seattle Cancer Care Alliance 2005
• Northwest Harvest 2004-2005
• Seattle Youth Garden Works 2004
• Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services 2004-2005
• Northwest Women's Law Center Gala, 2003-2005
• Children's Hospital since 2002
• Earth Corps 2003

Stores and Galleries
The Dolphin Song, Gardner Kansas since 2006
Raven Blues, Poulsbo Washington since 2006
Sticks and Stones, White Salmon Washington 2006-2007
Everett Artist's Supply & Framing, LLC, Everett Washington since 2007
Morningstar Boutique, Boulder Colorado 2006-2007
Nature’s Kitchen, Yreka California since 2006
Molbaks, Woodinville Washington 2006
Shop at the Textile Center, Minneapolis Minnesota 2005
Relish, Erie Pennsylvania 2005
Voss' Birchwood Lodge, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin 2005
The Artisan's Guild, New Britain Connecticut 2003-2005
Mile Six Unique Jewelry, Seattle Washington 2003-2005
Flying Bird Studio, New Hampshire 2002

Art Shows and Festivals

Best of the Northwest, Seattle Washington since 2003
RAGS Wearable Art Sale and Benefit, Tacoma Washington 2008
More the Merrier at Molbaks, Woodinville Washington 2006
Holiday Sale at Brookfield Craft Center, Brookline Connecticut since 2004
One & Only Holiday Show at the John Michael Kohler Art Gallery, Sheboygan Wisconsin since 2005
Holiday Sale at the Textile Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2005
Hatstravaganza, Horatio's Antiques, Tacoma Washington 2005
Bellevue Arts & Crafts Fair, Bellevue Washington 2005
Art as Gift, Pomerene Center, Coshocton Ohio 2003-2005