Artisanal luxury honours the handmaking process by emphasising the unique quality of handcrafted products that bear the individual imprint of the maker. In highlighting the skill of the artisan, the focus shifts from the expensiveness or exclusivity that tends to define luxury. Instead, the artisanal input becomes a medium for bringing sincerity and soul, and meaning into the heart of the product or experience.

Artisanal luxury chooses to place the focus on:

• People and community by respecting cultural bonds, inherited knowledge, and ancestral skills and techniques

• Celebrating heritage by upholding the value of craft traditions.And, seeking to preserve the skills and precious know-how, while enabling them to evolve

• Collaboration
 through skill and knowledge sharing for mutual benefit

Spotlighting craftsmanship within luxury production, therefore, reveals the essential role of highly skilled artisans in creating high-quality, well-made objects. Connecting with and getting to know those behind the products helps to humanise what is often perceived to be an entitled sector. For more on the role of craftsmanship in luxury, read: Craftsmanship artisans and their central role in the rise of true luxury

That said, not everything made by hand automatically qualifies as ‘artisanal luxury’. Alongside the mastery of skills, there is a need for creativity and imagination to transform artisan know-how into exceptional, relevant objects and services. And this is where the designer or retailer adds value, and collaboration becomes a necessity.

If you want to know more about creating an artisanal luxury goods brand, have a look at my services here.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

[Image credits: The image shown belongs to Mathilde Langevin via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere, please credit accordingly.]

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Getting up close and personal with craft is always a delight, and with its focus on craft, LCW has become a must-attend fixture on the international creative calendar. It is a week when ateliers, workshops, and places normally closed to the public open their doors to reveal the mastery of hand skills, techniques, and imagination that go into creating breathtakingly beautiful, crafted objects.

This LCW was noticeably bigger than previous editions, spreading out to include more of London beyond the usual Central/SW focus. The event gave locals and visitors greater access to craft displays in their locality through an engaging programme of established and emerging names in the world of craft. There was something for everyone thanks to a diverse range of participants from luxury houses to art colleges to religious buildings offering displays, tours, talks and demonstrations.

As widespread as the event was, it was impossible to see everything, even if you chose to do the full 7-day calendar of events, including the evening ones. Selecting what to see required some planning. For the exhibitions and showcases I visited, LCW was an opportunity for me to meet in person artisans I have interviewed for my various writing commissions including the Homo Faber Guide, an initiative of the Michelangelo Foundation, which was the LCW headline sponsor.

My journey across the city on one of the days took me from Cockpit studios exhibition of leading and next-generation makers to No. 9 Cork Street, where I met furniture designer and artisan, Brodie Neill, then onto The Pimlico Road, popping in and out of the design and interior showrooms and workshops. There, I met ceramicist Isatu Hyde at Jamb, and at Soane Britain viewed a demonstration of paper making using old cotton shirts by The Paper Foundation, one of the last handmade paper makers in Britain.

Woodstrokes Table, Brodie Neill, No. 9 Cork Street, London Craft Week 2025

I am always fascinated by ways in which cultures choose to revitalise their craft heritages as a way of preserving them. So, another day brought visits to the international pavilions, which served as a window into how they are doing this. The Royal Thai Embassy presented an elegant and beautiful display of the Royal family’s efforts to preserve and modernise traditional Thai textile heritage through a range of initiatives, including the Queen and Princess, adapting these textiles into contemporary outfits for Royal engagements.

An installation of indigo in the Chinese Pavilion in Cromwell House led to an introduction and in-depth conversation with shibori textile specialist Yoshiko Wada Morphopoulos. While ‘yAwArAkAi kArA – The Reflecting Skin’, an exhibition by Maud and Mabel gallery, introduced me to the serene and evocative works of Japanese ceramicists Akiko Hirai and Kenta Anza. Tucked away in a back room of the building was the Saudi Pavilion, one of my favourite presentations. With its quiet, atmospheric presence and understated elegance communicated through deep, rich tones of purple and dark green, the installation presented a collection of vibrant, woven objects that together told a beautiful story of weaving and artistry.

The Suadi Pavilion, Cromwell House, London Craft Week 2025

It’s nice to see a celebration of craftsmanship excellence with dedicated events like LCW, giving the talented makers and their exceptional objects a moment in the spotlight, enabling people to see and appreciate the meaning, value and beauty that handmade brings into our lives.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

[Image credits: The images shown belong to Tapiwa Matsinde. If downloaded and used elsewhere, please credit accordingly.] Main image is a ceramic vessel by Kenta Anza, curated by Maude and Mabel Gallery.

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Embracing a philosophy of slow design requires a considerate approach to the production process by taking one’s time to plan and create an object. The concept is about honouring, not rushing the process. This is where hand-craftsmanship finds its place as being central to a slow design philosophy. Craftsmanship is the embodiment of slow design because handcrafting an object and doing it well takes skill mastery, effort and time. Hand-craftsmanship counteracts mass production. Instead of churning out and saturating retail markets with products, slow handcrafted design results in small batch, limited edition or one-of-a-kind products.

Slow design also facilitates the connections of time-honoured practices with innovation, having a positive impact and incorporating sustainable sourcing. Slow design considers:

People – who make, and buy the product

A slow design philosophy respects people, their skills, and the time it takes to handcraft an object. Production rooted in slow design can also bolster the maker’s physical and mental well-being as processes can provide a calming, rhythmic flow that speaks to the soul. People also refer to the customer, the person who is looking for more meaningful connections to the products they buy. Slow design can create a community around the products made as people come together to learn more about a craft and its processes.

Place – where the product is made

Slow design helps to preserve and revive interest in handcraft traditions and heritages. It encourages the passing down of skills from one generation to another, as the value of what is being created is once again revered and given recognition in modern life. The skill is no longer seen as old-fashioned but as something deemed worthy to keep alive. Slow design can also encourage transparency in supply chains. Transparency calls for the sharing of where products are made and recognising the true cost of artisanal creation. Transparency is a willingness to be held accountable for maintaining the standards and safety of the environment where a product is made and for those who work within it.

Planet – how the product is made and brought to market

Slow design prioritises timelessness over trends and mass production. The philosophy considers the impact design and production will have on the environment, flora and fauna, and the well-being of those that come into contact with it- maker and consumer. Slow design processes take the time to explore, select or develop the best natural or man-made materials to be used. The philosophy takes into account concerns such as immediate and long-term toxicity, product life-span and what happens when it is eventually discarded, and allows for the time to find safer and beneficial solutions.

Slow design calls for less is more consumerism by aiding greater appreciation of what is made by hand and valuing quality over quantity. While a slower handcraft-led design process will take longer to bring a product to market, the upside is that it can also mean deeper engagement by cultivating more meaningful connections between an artisan business and its customers.

What does slow design mean to you? I would love to know your thoughts. Do share in the comments.

[Image credits: The images shown are sourced from/belong to furkanfdemir via pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere, please credit accordingly.]

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In the last few years, the luxury industry has been forced to take a hard look at itself from a sustainable production perspective, among other factors. This resulted in a series of shifts, including turning the industry away from mass consumerism and instead returning to its foundational roots of a more considered approach that re-embraces the values that define true luxury.

‘True luxury’ is a standard of luxury that is not defined by hefty price tags, but rather by the ‘money can’t buy’ attributes of time, skills, experiences, and emotional connections. These four sought-after attributes are embedded into the products created.

True luxury recognises and brings our attention back to the role that the artisan, exceptional craftsmanship, and creativity has at the heart of luxury. It does this by respecting the time it takes to craft an object either entirley by hand or using hand-guided machine. The very touch of the human hand, infusing an object with heart & soul, rendering it animate.

Being aware of true luxury enables us to see and appreciate materials through the eyes of the creator, marvelling at the way light shines through a glass vessel, casting patterns on the wall behind it or the way a piece of furniture has been carefully joined together. Materials that are continually pushed and expanded beyond their common capabilities, yet thoughtfully and sustainably sourced with health, well-being, and longevity in mind.

True luxury is not a principle that remains in the past. It is forward-thinking, using the present to create responses to address tomorrow’s challenges. True luxury is about embracing the concept of slow design, which in turn results in fewer products, mindfully crafted to last a lifetime, or at the very least last much much longer than the current behaviour of objects being thoughtlessly discarded after a couple of uses.

True luxury does not shy away from transparency. It is heart-centred, offering an invitation to personally connect with and, therefore, treasure an object on a deeper, emotional level. It is an invitation to experience and appreciate the finer details of what go into crafting an object. To uncover the stories of the maker that are woven, moulded, and carved into it. And to discover the heritage that forms the foundation upon which an object has emerged.

The discerning customer is becoming more conscious about what they buy and the impact it has on their life and world. True luxury is the response to meeting their exacting needs in a sophisticated and holistic way.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

Image credits: Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

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I am honoured to be taking part in this event as the curator of The Artisan: a crafted tea room. It is one of 15 immersive exhibitions curated by 22 curators and designers, 350 master artisans, rising stars and designers, with a special focus on Japanese National Living Treasures.

In what has been my most challenging curatorial role, the brief of transforming this empty space by turning away from the typical look-but-don’t-touch exhibition format to embrace an interactive presentation that invites and expects visitors to get up close and personal with the objects on display. 

The result is an intimate setting that has been described as ‘feeling like home’, and having ‘a wonderful vibe’. I couldn’t ask for much more than that. Thank you, Homo Faber for the opportunity. And a huge thank you to all the artisans, designers, and manufacturers for loaning their objects to make it all possible.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

Image credits: Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Simone Padovani©Michelangelo Foundation, Nicolò Zanatta©Michelangelo Foundation, Tapiwa Matsinde

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As a curator of one of the exhibitions, The Artisan: a crafted tea room, I am proud to be taking part in this exceptional event.

For more visit: https://www.homofaber.com 

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After decades dominated by mass production, we want the objects we use on a daily basis to have personality and soul. Every handmade piece bears someone’s fingerprints.

Tapiwa Matsinde, Author, Curator, Mentor

Image credit: Laila Pozzo for Homo Faber

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My mission is to transform the Padiglione delle CapriateRoom / Truss Pavilion into a functioning tea room that is filled with exceptional furniture and objects crafted by artisans and manufacturers from around the world. The challenge is that not only will visitors be able to view the objects in the room they will also be able to interact with and use them during their time touring the event’s other exhibitions. This means sitting on chairs, having a cup of tea, or having a bite to eat on dining and Bistrot tables. Reclining on armchairs and sinking into plush sofas as they take time out to refresh and recharge.

And to do all this in just over 3 months, yikes!

An initiative of the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity & Craftsmanship, Homo Faber 2022 features 15 exhibitions, 22 curators and designers, 12 Japanese Living Treasures, and over 400 works crafted by over 350 artisans, and designers, and manufacturers representing over 30 countries.

Image credit of Padiglione delle Capriate belongs to The Giorgio Cini Foundation

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Presenting existing and never-before-seen collectible artworks made especially for the exhibition Art & Exception brings together 45 exceptional pieces from 25 artists representing 15 African countries. The objects are by emerging and established names working across a range of disciplines from woodwork to embroidery, among them the South African ceramist Zizipho Poswa, the intricate lighting of Meftah House crafted in their Moroccan workshops, the entirely hand-embroidered paintings by Rwandan Christine Rwagatare, the watercolours of Bartholomew Toguo on a series of ceramic plates, and the textile universe of Ghizlane Sahli.

Art & Exception is on show in person at the French auction house, Artcurial, or view the live experience online.

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