Meet the Homo Faber Fellowship duos who create for haute couture and fine jewellery maisons

The collaboration between designers and artisans has always been at the heart of bespoke and one-of-a-kind creations. For craftsmanship to continue to play an important role in the luxury industry, it is essential that the next generation of makers learn the knowledge and techniques behind specialised crafts used to create unique pieces. Beyond mastering age-old skills, today’s artisans need to keep one eye on the past to protect exquisite techniques and look to the future to innovate with new sustainable methods and materials. Discover two France-based Homo Faber Fellowship duos who are dedicated to perpetuating and reinventing precious skills sought after by maisons.

Fabrics for fashion houses

Cecile Feilchenfeldt and Karla Huff, embroidery, Paris

Swiss textile designer Cecile Feilchenfeldt has lived and worked in Paris for over 20 years where she runs a small studio developing knitted fabrics for haute couture fashion houses. “The level of savoir-faire required is very high as my clients are used to working with the best in their fields. I love working in this environment as I learn something new with every collaboration.” She learned knitting from her grandmother when she was young and specialised in woven materials at the Zurich University of the Arts. Ever since buying her first knitting machine she has almost exclusively designed and made crocheted fabrics.

As an aspiring knitwear designer, fellow Karla Huff is passionate about bringing two-dimensional surfaces to life through the craft of textile construction. She draws inspiration from her dual Croatian-German upbringing. With a background in multidisciplinary design, she offers a distinctive perspective to her craft: “I am eager to embark on new challenges and further my journey as a knitwear designer, with aspirations of pursuing opportunities in Paris.”

Karla will follow Cecile’s studio’s strict and tight schedule for the fashion weeks dedicated to Haute Couture, Women’s ready-to-wear and Men’s ready-to-wear. The studio follows several big projects with well-known maisons at a time and has side projects such as collaborations with smaller ateliers like Thomasine Gloves and Hors Studio. Karla will learn all the knit techniques that are necessary to participate actively in the studio’s preparation of the projects.

Decorative panels for shop interiors

Pierre Henri Beyssac & Victoire Camus, wood marquetry, France

From his atelier in the South of France, master marquetry maker Pierre Henri Beyssac collaborates with maisons to create one-of-a-kind commissions. For the last five years he has been collaborating with a high jewellery maison to make large-scale decorative murals for their shops across the world from China to Switzerland. “Usually, marquetry is inlay on furniture or little objects, so every mural is a challenge. For the last creation, the panel that supported the marquetery was curved. So, we had to make a very big mould to make the panel before gluing the marquetry on it.” Three years ago, Pierre Henri had the opportunity to work with one of the biggest Cognac maisons in the world. His atelier received a very special order for 90 boxes to celebrate the 110th anniversary of their Cordon Bleu Cognac. “There were just three of us in the atelier working on this project, so it took two years,” explains Pierre Henri.

Speaking of the value of working with maisons, Pierre-Henri says that “each collaboration helps to protect my how-know and my craft. Ten years ago, in France it was difficult to see luxury brands or interior designers working with marquetry. But day after day, and collaboration after collaboration we’ve seen more and more maisons working with us.” Aware that maisons are always looking for something new, Pierre Henri constantly tries to innovate, researching new techniques and ways to apply his craft to bespoke creations. For an ongoing collaboration, he regularly works with a painter, mixing their crafts to give marquetry a new image. His fellow Victoire Camus is very enthusiastic about such collaborations as they “bring a new perspective, away from the constraints of an artisan’s usual practice, giving birth to ideas and unique designs.”

With a history of art degree gained in Paris, Victoire is interested by heritage, art and creation. Reflecting on the history of marquetry and the new role of maisons in bolstering this ancient craft, Victoire says “Maisons give marquetry makers the means to maximise their expertise and express their uniqueness through exceptional productions. They offer prestigious showcases which promote marquetry internationally, helping it to be a living and innovative art, far from the museums with which it is often associated.” For her collaboration is an essential element for her professional development. “When it comes to the luxury sector, expectations are high, so it always pushes our know-how to renew and innovate, ensuring excellence.” “The Fellowship program gives young artisans the keys to prepare for these future collaborations, both through the theoretical training it provides around the notion of project development and through the practical design of a piece in collaboration with the master artisan.”

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Homo Faber Fellowship is a 7-month sponsored professional integration programme designed for duos of master artisans and craft graduates, proposed by Homo Faber NextGen. The second edition begins for the fellows in September 2024 with a one-month creative and entrepreneurial masterclass taught by ESSEC Business School and Passa Ao Futuro at the International University of Art in Venice. The participating fellows will then spend six months in the workshops of their paired master artisans across Europe. During these months spent in the workshop together, the 23 duos will be challenged to design and handcraft a co-creation inspired by a theme chosen by the programme’s supporting partner Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Fellowship is developed in partnership with local members of the Foundation’s network. homofaber.com

The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is a non-profit institution based in Geneva, which champions contemporary craftspeople worldwide with the aim of promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future. The Foundation seeks to highlight the connections between craft and the wider arts and the design world. Its mission is to both celebrate and preserve craftsmanship and its diversity of makers, materials and techniques, by increasing craft’s everyday recognition and its viability as a professional path for the next generations. The Foundation presents Homo Faber, a cultural movement centred on creative artisans worldwide. Its signature projects are education programmes for the next generations, an international biennial celebration and an online guide. homofaber.com

michelangelofoundation.org

Supporting partner of Homo Faber Fellowship:

Jaeger-LeCoultre: The Watchmaker of Watchmakers™

Since 1833, driven by an unquenchable thirst for innovation and creativity, and inspired by the peaceful natural surroundings of its home in the Vallée de Joux, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been distinguished by its mastery of complications and the precision of its mechanisms. Known as the Watchmaker of Watchmakers™, the Manufacture has expressed its relentlessly inventive spirit through the creation of more than 1,400 different calibres and the award of more than 430 patents. Harnessing 190 years of accumulated expertise, La Grande Maison’s watchmakers design, produce, finish and ornament the most advanced and precise mechanisms, blending passion with centuries-old savoir-faire, linking the past to the future, timeless but always up with the times. With 180 skills brought together under one roof, the Manufacture creates fine timepieces that combine technical ingenuity with aesthetic beauty and a distinctively understated sophistication.jaeger-lecoultre.com

Institutional partners:

Asociación Contemporanea de Artes y Oficios (ACAO) is an association that promotes both traditional and contemporary Spanish crafts. They seek to protect Spanish craftsmanship, and use it to foster the development of culture, history and art and boost its economic benefits on the environment and tourism industry. Their main targets are to ensure an environment in which Spanish craftspeople can thrive and to aid them in having further commercial reach in Spain and internationally espanaartesana.com

The B&M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music aims to encourage the public to enter into a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary dialogue with music and the visual arts. Founded in 2004, this non-profit organisation promotes the work of Greek artists at home and abroad, with support for networking, and maintains a directory of artisans. The foundation sponsors educational and academic research, and its cultural centre in the heart of Athens hosts exhibitions, concerts, lectures and educational activities as well as a café and art shop. thf.gr

Established in 1986, the Centro de Formação Profissional para o Artesanato e Património (CEARTE), is a vocational training centre in the craft sector, with its headquarters based in Coimbra. CEARTE masterminds training projects all over Portugal, supporting creativity, skills and talent development. Respecting and upholding time-honoured techniques and heritage skills, the organisation also places a focus on restoration and patrimony, as well as innovation. cearte.pt

The Cyprus Handicraft Service (CHS) is the Republic of Cyprus governmental body under the Deputy Ministry of Culture, responsible for promoting and preserving the rich heritage of Cypriot craftsmanship while enhancing its competitiveness through research and design innovation. The CHS designs and implements policies, to ensure that the local know-how in craft making will be preserved and passed on to the new generation of artisans. cyprushandicraft.gov.cy

Design & Crafts Council Ireland is the national agency for craft and design in Ireland, we support designers and makers to develop their businesses in a sustainable way, and advocate for the societal benefits of craft and design. DCCI's activities are funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. DCCI currently has 64 member organisations and over 3,500 registered clients. dcci.ie

Institut pour les Savoir-Faire Français (The French Savoir-Faire Institute) is a non-profit association founded in 1889. Their work is recognized by the French Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, the French Ministry of Culture, and the French Ministry of National Education, and Youth. They conduct a support policy for fine crafts as well as Living Heritage Companies. The Institute actively participates in the promotion of French savoir-faire at national and international levels institut-savoirfaire.fr

The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association is a non-governmental organization that has over 350 local member groups across Norway. Since its inception in 1910, the association has been steadfast in its mission to champion traditional Norwegian handicrafts, perpetuate craft skills, and spread the joy of creating. In 2014, it achieved UNESCO accreditation. A core aspect of their work involves teaching craft skills, with numerous courses offered by local member groups nationwide. husflid.no

Nów. New Craft Poland is an association of original craft studios from all over Poland. The unique pieces created by their members are of the highest quality of workmanship. Their objective is to spread knowledge about contemporary Polish craft and promote it at home and abroad. They represent the interests of their members while dealing with public institutions and business. nownowerzemioslo.pl

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is a charity that transforms the careers of talented and aspiring makers by funding their training and education, creating pathways to excellence and strengthening the future of the UK’s craft sector. To date, QEST has awarded more than £6million to almost 800 individuals working across the UK in 130 different craft disciplines. While their Crafting Tomorrow programme inspires a new generation of makers through key partnerships. qest.org.uk

Academic partners:

ESSEC Business School, founded in 1907, is one of the world’s top management schools and holds the “triple crown” accreditation from EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA. With 7,221 students; a faculty comprised of 169 full-time professors, 23 of which are emeritus professors, in France and Singapore, recognized for both the quality and influence of their research; a wide range of management training programmes; partnerships with the world’s best universities; and a network of 65,000 alumni, ESSEC continues to foster a tradition of academic excellence and a spirit of openness in the fields of economics, social sciences and innovation. In 2005, ESSEC opened a campus in Asia. ESSEC’s operations in Asia Pacific, strategically located in Singapore, present the perfect foothold for ESSEC to be part of the vibrant growth of Asia and to bring its expertise to the expanding region. Additionally, in 2017 ESSEC opened a new campus in Rabat, Morocco. ESSEC’s international expansion allows students and professors to study and understand the economic forces at work in the different regions of the world. essec.edu

Passa Ao Futuro founded in 2016 by Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, is a cultural initiative non-profit association that seeks out craftspeople in Portugal working with traditional techniques. It strives to support these communities and people through the documentation and preservation of their tacit knowledge, the development of case specific social, environmental and economic sustainability programmes, with a focus on the celebration and passing on of skills. The association activates this network through several initiatives including residencies, summer schools, exhibitions, social innovation and sustainability training. It supports the crafts as a catalyst for a regenerative future. passaaofuturo.com

Creative residency:

Since 1969, UIA Università Internazionale dell’Arte (International University of Art), located at Villa Hériot, is the most prestigious professional training centre in the field of cultural heritage restoration and conservation in Venice. Since its foundation, UIA has been a point of reference for education and training in the field of art, and a place of experimentation between the world of academia and the world of work. uiavenezia.com

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