Batch 1 of 20 pieces. Each one numbered. The maker signs the interior with a single stitch in indigo thread.

Added an internal spiral of doubled raffia at the crown. Invisible from outside, holds the dome. Each piece still takes 3 days to crochet by hand.

Loosened the crochet gauge by 40%. Now it breathes. The silhouette softened — less helmet, more halo. But the top collapsed under its own weight.

The weave was too tight. It looked like a basket, not a crown. We needed air between the strands — the light has to pass through.

Tested four raffia suppliers. Two were too brittle, one too uniform. Settled on Madagascar palm raffia — irregular, golden, alive.

Started with the idea of a crown that doesn’t announce itself. Pencil on paper — a dome shape, open weave, no brim. The question was: can raffia hold structure without wire?