A counterpoint to all things mass produced, perfectly polished and garishly generic, hand crafted goods produced by skilled coops and award-winning artisans bring richness and meaning to our lives. In open sourced environments like Etsy’s New York studio, creators share materials, recycle unused supplies and benefit from the collective creativity of its multi-disciplinary members. The result is a robust trading arena for handmade apparel, toys, accessories, housewares and art - all delightfully unlike any other products on the market. Check out Maxine Orange’s handpainted canvas clutches or dangly cotton lariats by Right Out Loud.

In Portland, db clay dubs itself a faculty and produces wallets by transferring conceptual artwork and timeless photographs onto duct tape and other custom textiles. Then there’s W Records by Monkey, a collective of fashion, music and art that earned their style stripes selling bracelets from recycled records at street fairs before becoming a retail phenom.

Meanwhile, the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles has an upcoming exhibit entitled From Craft To Catwalk, celebrating contemporary design with a folkloric soul. An array of cutting edge concepts including Edoche’s beaded boots from Peruvia and Abaete’s Haitian embroidered caftans will be on display. (Insider scoop - curator Debra Stevenson is a FBI seminar speaker and actively reviewing submissions).

Thanks to a growing network of neighborhood specialty retailers, hand made merchandise is popping up in urban outposts everywhere. Watch for sketchy graphic tees, artfully drawn details on dinnerware, neo-innocent kidult toys and quirky accessories celebrating human handiwork. Here’s a look at our most crafty finds!

This article provided courtesy of COMMITTEE FOR COLOUR & TRENDS, the international forecasting source for footwear and accessories since 1983. Subscribe to CCT’s Fashion Facts newsletter or read the Trend Agitator blog at www.TrendAgitator.com. Craving another dose of consumer insight? Upcoming trend and branding seminars are listed on the FBI events calendar. To learn more about how global trends affect your business, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

PHOTO CREDITS:
W Records by Monkey’s repurposed jewelry; Right out Loud’s dangly cotton lariats.

LINKS:
etsy.com
maxineorange.etsy.com
rightoutloud.etsy.com

dbclay.com
wrecordsbymonkey.com

cafam.org
edoche.com
abaete.com

color-trends.com
trendagitator.com