Future-proofing creative expression from generation to generation is no easy task, but as craft-minded entrepreneurs have been forced to shutter their doors across the US, a clear case for learning how to champion and capitalise on local savoir-faire has emerged. 

A very human appreciation for artisanship stirs souls across the globe, but how this translates into consumer sentiment is perceptibly different from country to country, as any traveller with a penchant for shopping knows. Commenting on the launch of the first Homo Faber exhibition of fine European craftsmanship back in 2018, for example, chairman of Swiss luxury goods group Richemont, Johann Rupert, remarked to the Financial Times that handcraft is one area in which human beings can triumph over machines in securing employment, now and in the future. 

Traditional manufacturing techniques, dependent as they are on the human eye and hand, are similarly expected to continue to engender a premium price tag at retail, Mr Rupert. Particularly as reliance on technology-driven, automated processes ramps up elsewhere. Nurturing respect for high-quality artisanal work and the industries that sustain it is by no means a one-size-fits-all approach, however.

Couture milliner Gigi Burris O’Hara suggests to World Leather that consumer expectations in the US are “dramatically different” to those typically observed in Europe. The Parsons School of Design-trained milliner, who celebrated a decade of her eponymous Gigi Burris Millinery brand in October, is also the founder and executive chairwoman of Closely Crafted, an alliance for artisan manufacturers in the US. She cites top-down efforts in Europe to entrench a sense of pride in locally made luxury goods, more conducive to cultivating an appetite for “investment” purchases, as an important reason for such marked differences in attitudes. 

Meanwhile, US society has in large part been conditioned to demand lower prices and ever-faster lead times, Ms Burris O’Hara adds. Many local workshops and factories have thus shut up shop, resulting in the loss of specialised skills and knowledge from the national economy. This reality, compounded by the business impact of covid-19, meant that the idea for a not-for-profit industry alliance, united by its laser-focused commitment to preserving and promoting American savoir-faire, not to mention the well-being of artisans, soon took hold. The milliner would go on to launch Closely Crafted this July.

A valuable skillset

The closure of Bantam leather atelier, a 30-year-plus stalwart of Manhattan’s garment district, born of husband-and-wife team and first-generation immigrants, Janos and Stefanie Papai, was especially heartbreaking for Closely Crafted’s founder. Her own husband, Evan O'Hara, the entrepreneur behind luxury leathergoods brand Vereda, which works exclusively with wild American alligator skins sustainably harvested, often by himself, in his native Florida, collaborated with the factory for over a decade. To this day, Mr Papai visits Vereda’s New York City studio on a weekly basis to continue to share his expertise with Mr O’Hara, who purchased some of Bantam’s machinery after it folded. “This passing of generational craft knowledge and know-how is what we hope to capture [with Closely Crafted], creating a sustainable future for luxury fashion production in the US,” Ms Burris O’Hara tells us.

Bantam was one of only a few local leatherworking enterprises to specialise in exotic skins, although it also worked with luxury houses to make samples and realise commercial-scale manu-facturing using high-end hides, skins, shearling and suede materials. Most importantly, the standard of leather artistry to come out of its workshop was of “couture quality”. So much so, Vereda trusted the factory to not only produce the label’s core collections, but also fulfil orders for bespoke pieces placed by private clients, according to Ms Burris O’Hara. Its low minimums and agility meant her husband could scale his own brand at a strategic pace, without requiring much seed funding to begin trading. The milliner herself has previously used alligator skins, handcrafted flowers, feathers, Swarovski crystals and silk ribbons to embellish her designs.

Part of the Bantam atelier’s legacy, for Closely Crafted at least, seems bound up with the imprint of yet-unrealised possibilities for local production left behind in its wake. The manufacturer’s absence, as is the case with others of a similar mould, will inevitably push some domestic brands to commission skilled artisans from outside the country. A significant challenge for the newly formed non-profit, therefore, will be to persuade government leaders and fashion industry influencers from across the US of the real, present-day value in preserving the nation’s craft heritage and know-how, as happens in Europe. “This is an issue that touches [people] all around the country,” the alliance’s founder emphasises. 

Renewed purpose

Fittingly, Closely Crafted’s network already stretches from its base in New York City to the West Coast, back over to the south-east and then up to major regional hubs like Chicago and Detroit. Longer-term plans for the organisation include establishing permanent footprints in Los Angeles, Texas and Alabama. Besides leathergoods and apparel, it spotlights a curation of “designer allies” known for their American-made shoes, boots, denim and more on its website, which can double up as something of a shopping guide for those seeking a taste of locally flavoured luxury. Other ongoing projects include producing shareable short-form video content for different social media, designed to provide a window into the artistry of craftspeople showing work as diverse as leather patina and hat blocking through a Closely Crafted lens. 

Next up on the horizon is the formulation of a value-based benchmark, reflective of the many hours of skilled manual labour needed to create premium-priced artisanal products, which the organisation will make available to its brand partners. It is hoped that this tool will empower the domestic fashion industry to improve its storytelling and better connect with its target audience as a single, more harmonious voice. Helping stakeholders from all corners of the globe relay important, consumer-friendly messages around the quality and sustainability impact of American-crafted luxury products, especially in quantifiable terms that clearly align with their pricing structure, is a core component of Closely Crafted’s own strategic mission to inspire, nurture and advocate for traditional artisanship in the US. 

Work on this has already begun with four independent luxury boutiques, Hampden Clothing, The Webster, McMullen and Vermillion, whom the non-profit is currently supporting to produce engaging marketing assets that spotlight the local artisan-makers behind the collections they carry. Further down the road, Closely Crafted will host its first intake of apprentices, for which funds are being raised via a dedicated Move the Needle campaign as the organisation moves to finalise the programme’s structure and define its outcomes following much board-level discussion. The initial cohort will be shaped by the expertise of allied designers and industry figures, while the mentor-mentee work pattern will be adapted and fine-tuned over time according to need. Leatherwork, pleating, flower-making, embellishment, hat blocking, shoemaking and leather patina will all eventually feed into Closely Crafted’s apprenticeship offer, its founder states.  

The success of the effort will ultimately be measured by the degree to which it can inspire passion in the hearts and minds of shoppers, potential trainees, would-be mentors and industry influencers alike, convincing them of the need to make a tangible investment in local vocational skills. But it is evident that Ms Burris O’Hara is in it for the long-term, something for which the next generation, already destabilised by various global crises, will likely be extremely grateful. 

Makers of leather boots, shoes, apparel and accessories, from exotic skins to suede, play a key role in the Closely Crafted alliance.
Credit: Closely Crafted

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