Craft Is At The Center Of These 7 Brands

It’s easy to see the appeal of a handcrafted piece. All the time and intention poured into a single garment can make the act of wearing it feel like creative expression in its purest form — the details and intricacies unique with each piece. But with craft comes added time and expense, which is why many designers are choosing to collaborate with artisans around the world to help support and preserve local traditions and techniques.

Take designer Mozhdeh Matin, for example. The Iranian Peruvian founder of her namesake brand has teamed up with nearly 200 Peruvian artisans for her collection of striking separates that are born from traditional weaving and knitting techniques and translated to modern silhouettes. Then there’s Nigerian designer Abiola Olusola, who works with African artisans to incorporate artful elements like beading, embroidery, and fringe into her vibrant collections.

While the brands embracing craft are reflective of the individual global communities they collaborate with and draw inspiration from, they are all connected by a respect for the human touch, whether that’s an artfully embroidered dress inspired by antique Turkish textiles or a hand-crocheted cardigan that took 15 days to create in Latin America. Ahead, TZR sits down with seven designers that have placed craft at the forefront of their brand ethos.

Abiola Olusola

After completing fashion school at Istituto Marangoni in Paris, Abiola Olusola founded her label that’s now known for its artful balance between sleek cuts and rich craftsmanship detailing. “The inspiration behind my label is the contemporary African women and the dynamic lives we lead,” she tells TZR, noting that her intentions with the brand are to showcase and work with local African craftsmen and women. Her materials are sourced throughout the world (Japan, India, China), but especially from Nigeria. “We are largely inspired by Yoruba fabrics, which is the Adire and Aso-oke put side by side with silks and linens,” Olusola says. “This play on traditional and contemporary aesthetic is what gives us our signature style of ease, elegance, and an authentically African sensibility.” Her team works with various artisans, from weavers and beaders to embroiderers and crochet communities.

Mozhdeh Matin

When Mozhdeh Matin began traveling in 2008, she noticed a troubling common thread. “Many of the countries’ crafts I was visiting had been slowly disappearing,” she says. This realization served as the motivation to preserve local craft in Peru, where she now works with around 200 artisans, from Amazonian bead workers to weavers and knitters. All of the brand’s materials are locally sourced and made in Peru and are not processed or manufactured in a large factory. “Our artisanal collections feature handcrafted details and silhouettes, including weaving, crochet, and the application of rubber for our vegan leather alternative,” Matin says. “Craftsmanship drives our label, and we proudly share it with a contemporary vision.”

Marina Moscone

Both refined and raw, Marina Moscone’s collection of artful pieces deliver an artisanal look through a sleek, contemporary lens. “My sister Francesca and I founded the brand in late 2016 with the intentions of making meticulously tailored garments held to the highest standards of quality that are open to interpretation,” she says, explaining the well-rounded collection explores the tension between both the masculine and the feminine. They source all of their materials and trims in Italy and have a strong focus on tactility. “I’ve done collections in which the fabrics have been exclusively made by me on a hand-weaving loom; I’ve hand marbled our satin in massive blow-up pools that I set up in my apartment and made the panels into beautiful bias slip dresses; we’ve hand-drawn all our own prints and embroideries…the list goes on as we include something really artisanal and tactile in each collection,” Moscone says.

forte_forte

What began as a small collection of hand-finished t-shirts and ethereal gauze pieces has now expanded into forte_forte — a collection that’s rooted in natural materials and crafted details. “Everything always starts from a journey, a sensation, an experience, translated into a deep research for textiles and finishings that, little by little, transforms into a garment,” Co-founder and Creative Director Giada Forte says. The Italian label incorporates handmade work such as hand-knitting, crochet, and embroidery into its collection. “For this spring season, for example, we launched the project ‘forte_forte loves amourrina,’ which celebrates the centuries-old tradition of Venetian master glassmakers,” Forte says. “A jewelry collection where every single glass amourrina bead is made entirely by hand, shaped to form precious minute mosaics .”

Julia Heuer

Recognized for her collection of printed and pleated pieces, designer Julia Heuer founded her namesake label in 2017 after studying textiles and working for major fashion houses creating textiles and prints. “Over time, I felt a natural desire to merge my artistic vision with the artisanal techniques of Shibori and the industrial aspects of printmaking for fashion,” she tells TZR. All of the brand’s prints are created in-house as is the Shibori pleating process. “This involves meticulously rolling the fabric around a tube and binding it centimeter by centimeter before placing it in the oven to permanently alter its shape,” she says, noting the pleats define the core principle of each garment that’s constructed. The print design process begins with an analog approach. “We stay true to our artisanal roots through hand-painted motifs, drawings, or even real flowers captured on a scanner.”

Sea

Since its founding in 2007, New York label Sea has been beloved for its intricate details and romantic silhouettes. Co-founders Sean Monahan and Monica Paolini cite their collaborators in India as playing a key role in developing some of the fabrics and embroideries for each season’s collection. “Our starting point is often vintage that we collect from flea markets and vintage shops around the world,” Monahan says. “Through vintage we like to look at craft and traditions of generations past and find a way to enhance and modernize those techniques.” One example includes Sea’s pre-fall Edwina styles, which feature a cross stitch embroidery that was inspired by an antique Turkish tablecloth.

Carolina K

Drawing inspiration from her Latinx heritage and family lineage in textile and design, Carolina Kleinman created her brand, Carolina K, in 2005. Since then, she’s worked closely with groups of artisans from Latin America. “By partnering with these collectives, we’re preserving their ancestral techniques while bringing my vision of intricate and uniquely designed pieces to life,” Kleinman says. The collection is crafted from materials like (GOTS) certified organic cotton, hemp, linen, tencel and recycled polyester for swimwear. “We work with artisan communities that utilize distinctive embroidery and hand-woven techniques,” she says, adding that each community hand-constructs pieces over the course of 10 to 50 days. “To honor our artisans and show the level of detail and intricate work that went into creating each piece, all of our garments come with a tag with the name of the artisan that created the piece and how many hours of work went into creating it.”