The business of craftsmanship: Crafting an artisanal journey
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It is on the label of the chocolate bar you just bought, also proudly claimed by the producer of leather goods you like. The word is ‘artisanal’. Slap it on a product and boom, the product is automatically cooler and more valuable. Often linked with the word ‘authentic’.
The word ‘artisan’ is defined as a person or company that makes a high-quality or distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods. Their products are usually referred as artisanal.
An example of internationally renowned brand that is still proudly artisanal would be the luxury brand Hermès. The fashion house values craftsmanship above all else. It would be a difficult feat to find another multinational company that still stands so firmly with its past as Hermès. Despite now having over 300 stores, it still champions human touch and craftsmanship in the face of mounting impracticalities.
The fashion industry has increasingly become mechanised to control costs and capitalise the constantly-changing trends, yet Hermès has resisted. It stands firmly in its belief that there will always be enough people with a great deal of money and taste to buy good quality, painstakingly hand-crafted goods, labour and material costs be damned. Commendable as it is, are they alone in this fight?
Perhaps not, but the road is not an easy one. Running and expanding detail-oriented businesses can be rather tricky, as often times small companies promise more than they can deliver and flame out early because they are unable to meet the demand or maintain quality standards. A circumstance experienced by local artisanal brand Studio Senses, “It is very difficult to find artisans that have the quality of craftsmanship that we are looking for,” the label’s cofounder, Kanya Pradipta, told The Finery Report.
“We have our fair share of production failure and bad quality craftsmanship in the past, but we make sure that those garments were repaired or replaced until it passed our quality control. Quality is our priority,” she continued.
As Kanya would later tell us, their design process is long and intricate. “The fabric design process can take about two weeks if done extensively. After designing, we take our designs for sampling, which could take two weeks to a month, depending on the fabric’s complexity. Once the sample is set, it would be sent to the production stage that takes a month. The garment production timeline varies depending on the quantity and look. It usually takes one to two months to sew, do the embroidery and apply embellishments,” Kanya said. “In total, the design process could take up to four months from textile designs to garment productions,” she added.
When opting a longer – less taken – road such as artisanal craftsmanship, passion surely comes into play. As is the case with Hanifia Rahmadiani and Égon, another local artisanal fashion label. “We (Hanifia and partner) both enjoy the process of making, creating things from scratch – especially if they were made by hands. A human touch, in this digital era where everything seems to carried out by robots - is something that cannot be replaced, even though the results that come out from it is always different, that is the beauty of it,” she shared.
It is the soul that the human touch gives to a product that she finds irreplaceable, “There is this ‘legend’ that says when you’re crocheting, you leave a little of your soul in each stitch. Always gives us goose bumps when we think of it,” Hanifia added.
Running an artisanal label means that the business largely depends on, well, artisans. For Égon, maintaining them is the biggest challenge. “Yogyakarta is well-known for their artisans and thankfully, most of Fia’s family resides in there. So the hunt for them was not as hard as maintaining them,” Hanifia shared. “At first, we were pushing the artisans to work within our tempo, but after a while we realised that it does not work that way. So now we are trying to complement each other by fitting our timeline according to how long the artisans work,” she continued.
For Senses Studio, finding artisans with the quality of craftsmanship they seek proved to be a challenge. “Especially the ones with a good work ethic. We are now still outsourcing our artisans. We gave them a series of tests before we allow them to handle our productions, and the finished garments would go through a thorough quality control process,” Kanya said.
Despite the challenges, handcrafted artisanal fashion is on the rise. Consumers are starting to move away from mass-made goods – partly due to the environmental impacts – and handcrafted labels provide a refreshing alternative. Then there is the craft movement that has bubbled up in recent years and exploded during quarantine season this past year and a half.
Image: Harry Styles wearing JW Anderson cardigan
After musician Harry Styles was seen in a JW Anderson’s patchwork knit cardigan, fans began re-creating it on TikTok. Interestingly, the designer decided to release the pattern and instructions to the public to feed off the enthusiasm. “The idea was to help promote this idea of craft and making during a period when everyone was stuck at home with nothing to do,” Anderson explained. Craft offers a way for us to connect—whether to the makers, traditions, or simply our own humanity.
It is no surprise then that investors are starting to notice artisanal brands and assess their outlook. When investors are involved, however, the discussion will inevitably lead to one thing: scalability. Is it even possible for a business that takes pride in nurturing traditions and human craftsmanship in favour of convenience to scale?
Yes, but one must tread carefully. Two of the most vital steps in scaling an artisanal brand is to find the right partner(s) and to know one’s own capacity. For example, one can start by treating suppliers as collaborators, not factories, by ending price bidding, in which brands reward vendors with the lowest prices thereby devaluing artisanal skills. Instead, opt for ‘open costing’ that involves determining costs around a living wage and decent labour environment before agreeing on margins with suppliers.
Studio Senses and Égon listed creating their own studio, joining trade shows, employing good marketing strategies and collaborating with other artists and brands, both local and international, as their scaling methods. All while ensuring that they remain consistent in their production.
For investors, the process of buying and managing an artisanal brand is no less intricate. In the food and beverage industry – and applicable to the fashion industry –, the main challenge is in integrating them into investment portfolio without damaging each brand’s craft authenticity. It is about balancing the entrepreneurial spirit that has taken the brand to where it is – the values, ethos and culture and the investing company’s strategic plan.
On the upside, craft brands will have access to the investor’s financial resources, marketing know-how and distribution network that will allow them to develop considerably. However, the impending corporate culture shock that comes with an investor’s involvement could have a negative effect on the craft company culture. Thus, some companies have opted for majority buyouts rather than full takeovers.
For Égon and Studio Senses, getting an investor (or multiple) is not part of their immediate priorities. “As of right now, we just concentrate on creating a cohesive collection that is true to our core values, keep the quality as best as we possibly can and getting to know the rhythm of the market, because we are pretty new to this. But if an opportunity presents itself in the future, we are not going to pass it,” Kanya shared.
At the end of the day, to thrive and survive as an artisanal brand, one must remember that “it is more than just about the brand involved. There are artisans, too – both of you are learning and ‘feeding’ off one another. So the learning, growing curves are always there,” Hanifia summed up.
