What is the "modern craft" trend?

By Nathalie DolivoHandwork always has grain, but it also carries meaning, history and an artistic dimension. Faced with the difficulties that fashion is going through, linked to ecological concerns and the shutdown of the production chain during Covid-19, it has become vital for brands to regain control of their production processes. Get out of dependence on China, to return – in part – to local. Highlight the craftsmen who make the product. This is what the designer Marine Serre does, for example, in a series of short films titled Regenerated, each of which presents an iconic item of clothing and its craftsman. "It's a way of restoring value to the product, by showing the patient, meticulous work that it required", continues Bénédicte Fabien. Then this justifies a higher price than those of fast fashion brands for clothes produced in sometimes unworthy conditions on the other side of the world – China, Bangladesh or Pakistan. Read also: Short guide to Haute Couture fashion shows

"A political and civic approach"

But it's not just that. “Wearing sober clothes that are made locally and by hand also means taking a political and civic approach,” finally explains Fériel Karoui. These are statement pieces that say: "I refuse to subscribe to the cult of trends, of speed, of overconsumption. There really is an ethical dimension to that." The desire to support a whole local economic and social fabric, linked to community life, as we do with the farmers in our regions, can also be taken into account. In other words, more than ever, consuming is choosing. And these monastic dresses, these natural sandals and these wicker baskets say nothing less than that: a desire to make things happen. Modern, for sure.