Not all craft is lost – at least not in the eyes of Brooklyn-based designer Stephen Burks of Man Made, whose body of work attempts to bridge the gap between artisanal traditions and industrial manufacturing. He’s worked with a wide spectrum of international brands including B&B Italia, Parachilna, Missoni and, most recently, with Dedon for its Ahnda collection.

There’s still a lot of work to be done in terms of diversity in design. You can generalise and say that many brands are considering this. Yet some brands still follow a male-dominant, Eurocentric focus. My work is more about broadening the realms of design and presenting a more global perspective.

My workshop-based practice is focused on being close with the making of items to create more interesting concepts. It’s not about me making or weaving things, but me bringing the design and them bringing the skill.

Dedon is located in the Philippines because it has the highest level of quality in Asia in terms of the weaving craft. This bespoke herringbone weave comes from Scandinavian tradition; it’s now used in the Ahnda collection.

We are in a very dangerous time, in a sense, because design is becoming entertainment. Do we let design fall into a category of distraction, where you just buy this and that – a kind of rampant consumerism – or can we fight against this idea of throwaways? It’s not about trends or the latest colours; it’s about timeless quality.

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