52 Brands Who Put Craftsmanship at the Center of Everything They Do

At a certain point, you start to recognize the difference between something that’s simply well-styled and something that’s actually well-made. It’s not always obvious at first glance, but it reveals itself in the way a jacket holds its shape, how a bag softens over time, or how a piece of jewelry carries forward techniques passed down through generations. Craftsmanship isn’t always loud, but it’s what gives fashion its staying power.

Right now, that distinction feels more relevant than ever. As the industry continues to speed up—more drops, more product, more of everything—there’s a growing appreciation for the brands doing the opposite. The ones investing in technique, in materials, and the kind of specialized knowledge that can’t be rushed or replicated at scale.

Legacy designers and heritage houses may have helped define fashion’s gold standard for quality, but they’re now joined by a newer generation of labels approaching craft in ways that feel more personal and expansive—through artisan partnerships, regional techniques, and a broader view of what handmade fashion can and should be.

Across ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, and jewelry, these are the brands showing what the industry gains when craft stays at the center.

Miu Miu

While it was founded by Miuccia Prada in 1993 as a creative outlet to counter her minimalist, subversive work at Prada, the playful brand has always been serious about its quality-first approach. This includes Miu Miu Upcycled, a range of one-of-a-kind pieces made from vintage garments and fabrics, such as floral motifs cut from an old leather jacket used to embellish an archival wool skirt.

Saint Laurent

In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé revolutionized fashion with Rive Gauche—ready-to-wear with the spirit of couture, but at a more accessible price point. However, the brand remained committed to a standard of excellence, an ethos that continues today: Saint Laurent operates L’Atelier Maroquinerie, a space dedicated to the research and development of leather goods prototypes, where artisans hone traditional techniques and actualize new ones.

Celine

Techniques passed down for generations, from when Céline Vipiana founded the company, still define the allure of Celine’s leather goods today. It now produces its handbags in Tuscany, employing expert artisans who create and cut patterns from Italian leather, then shape and assemble them by hand. The Celine Triomphe, for instance, is made of 89 individual pieces of leather, and its logo clasp—inspired by the chain surrounding the Arc de Triomphe—is akin to a piece of fine jewelry.

Bode

Rooted in storytelling, with craftsmanship as its medium, Bode partners with artisans from around the world, using textiles, objects and other materials to create luxury pieces imbued with nostalgia. Its Senior Cord program—inspired by the 20th-century tradition of college seniors decorating their corduroys with lettering and drawings—reflects the brand’s commitment to preserving and honoring long-lost practices.

Heirlome

Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, founder and creative director Stephanie Suberville is passionate about collaborating with Mexican artists, aiming to empower local communities by supporting the continuation of their craftwork. Approximately 60 percent of the collectsion is made using traditional techniques, with crochet, embroidery, knitting, macramé, print, and weaving all developed in direct dialogue with the artisans’ original work. Combined with Suberville’s master tailoring, the result is tactile, wearable art, with tradition and storytelling woven into each garment.

Christopher John Rogers

Louisiana native Christopher John Rogers started generating buzz when he was still a student at SCAD, but he became a fashion-industry darling following his debut Spring 2019 collectsion. He has since solidified his standing as one of the most sought-after American designers. Though minimalism has been trending in recent years, Rogers never deviates from his singular, audacious aesthetic: Petticoats, corsetry, and ruffles in every color of the rainbow are all de rigeur.

Ferragamo

A master leatherworker who made his first pair of shoes at age nine, Salvatore Ferragamo rose to prominence in the 1920s, later making footwear for women such as Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland. When Ferragamo died in 1960, his wife, Wanda, expanded the company to include ready-to-wear, fragrance, and handbags, maintaining high standards of craftsmanship from the brand’s Florence headquarters. This artisan approach continues today, with creative director Maximilian Davis at the helm. One example: the Ferragamo Hug bag—hand-braided, hand-stitched, and assembled piece by piece from Italian tanned leathers.

Cartier

The name Cartier may call to mind Love bracelets and Tank watches, but there’s a less obvious offering that speaks to the French maison’s exceptional artistry: glyptics. The brand is the only major jeweler with an in-house atelier dedicated to the carving of semi-precious stones, a rare and ancient craft. Open since 2010, it employs five female artisans to work with stones and nontraditional materials such as fossils and petrified wood, sourced from around the globe. They craft a mold—usually from plaster or wax—then sculpt and hand-carve each piece before working with other ateliers on setting and polishing.

Gigi Burris

While studying at Parsons School of Design, Gigi Burris spent time in Paris, where her passion for hatmaking bloomed. Filled with inspiration from perusing vintage shops brimming with ribbons and other embellishments, she eventually launched her own millinery in 2012. The line employs the centuries-old technique of hand-shaping hats on wooden blocks in her New York City atelier.

Tiffany & Co.

1,500 in-house artisans draw on the luxury jeweler’s 189-year legacy when crafting everything from engagement rings and watches to glassware and china. Diamonds on icons, like the T collectsion pieces, are hand-set, and the brand is one of a few that still do hand-engraving. Each year, silversmiths make trophies for the Super Bowl, U.S. Open, and various other championships, using traditional techniques.

Chanel

For decades, Chanel’s textured tweeds, supple Double Flap bags, and countless iterations of the telltale double-C logo have reflected a creative dialogue between the French house and specialty artisans. The brand began acquiring some of these workshops, called métiers, in the 1980s, when they were at risk of closing. Today, Chanel houses 11 of them at its creative hub outside of Paris.

Savette

Founded in 2020 by Amy Zurek, Savette makes its minimalist bags from premium leather and rich suede, with every detail carefully considered to avoid excess. Each piece is crafted at a family-run workshop outside of Florence, where generational artisans employ age-old leather-cutting techniques, precise stitching, and hand-painting to craft luxury totes, clutches, crossbody bags, and other goods.

Charvet

The company opened the world’s first shirt shop in Paris in 1838, and has specialized in impeccably made bespoke and ready-to-wear shirting—made from fine cottons, silks, and cashmeres, handcrafted at the Place Vendôme atelier—ever since. At the ground-floor boutique, clients can get the full made-to-measure experience, which includes several fittings with a master tailor over the course of days, along with a vast selection of fabrics and custom details to choose from.

Sophie Buhai

The cofounder of early-aughts It-girl brand Vena Cava, Sophie Buhai decamped to her native L.A. in 2014 and poured her creative talents into jewelry-making. Her brand is known for heirloom-quality silver pieces adorned with pearls, lapis, and jade, among other semi-precious stones. The collectsion—which ranges from onyx tassel earrings to a sterling-silver joint holder—is handmade and locally crafted.

Balenciaga

Cristóbal Balenciaga’s inventive silhouettes revolutionized fashion, earning him a reputation as “the master” of haute couture. His command of tailoring and finishing remain principal codes of the house, now under the creative direction of Pierpaolo Piccioli. The brand brings those ideas to modern day through precise cutting to create volume without heavy interior structures, and innovating on signature fabrics.

Fendi

Before there was the Fendi Baguette, there was the Selleria. Created by Adele Casagrande Fendi after she was taught the stitching technique by Rome’s master saddlers, it set the groundwork for the house’s commitment to luxury design when it launched in 1925. Today, each Selleria is still made by hand—crafted from Cuoio Romano leather and adorned with the iconic sterling silver logo plaque.

Wales Bonner

As much a fashion brand as it is a study of Black identity, history, literature and music, Jamaican-British designer Grace Wales Bonner’s label mixes traditional African and Caribbean craftwork—think raffia, macramé, and beading—with sharp tailoring. For the 2025 Met Gala, the brand dressed Lewis Hamilton in a suit embellished with cowrie shells—a protective African amulet used in much of her work.

Prada

Patternmaking and tailoring are central to Prada—it often takes artisans up to 10 hours to assemble a single garment. To maintain the highest standards of craftsmanship, the storied Italian house, which was founded in 1913, operates specialty ateliers throughout Europe, each focusing on specific skills: Knitwear is spun and sewn by hand in Torgiano, Italy; plongé nappa leathers are tanned at the 90-year-old Tannerie Limoges in Isle, France; women’s footwear prototypes are made by artisans at the Montevarchi factory, with much of the process done manually; and handbags are crafted in Scandicci, where artisans use age-old blocking and metal-framing methods.

Brunello Cucinelli

Guided by philosophical principles as much as aesthetic ones, Brunello Cucinelli aims to operate in harmony with nature and with deep respect for craft, only using the resources necessary to produce each collectsion and prioritizing handmade techniques. The brand sources fine wool, cashmere, leather, and other luxury textiles to create its ready-to-wear in Solomeo, the Italian hamlet where it was founded. In 2013, Brunello Cucinelli opened the School of Contemporary High Craftsmanship and Arts to teach centuries-old craftsmanship techniques, including cutting, mending, patternmaking, and tailoring.

Maria McManus

The Dublin native started her namesake line in 2020 with an emphasis on high-quality organic, biodegradable, and recycled fibers. She soon gained recognition for her hand-crocheted tops and dresses crafted in Bolivia, as well as pieces accented with Dentelle de Calais-Caudry lace. While fashion lovers are drawn to the elevated designs, plush outerwear, and stylistic touches such as split sleeves, the interior structure of each garment is also worthy of adoration.

Gianvito Rossi

Each design, including the signature 105 pump, is made in the brand’s San Mauro Pascoli atelier, where the fine leather is cut, stitched, and assembled by hand, then left in a mold for 24 hours before being finished and inspected for quality. To preserve this level of craftsmanship, the brand launched the Gianvito Rossi Academy, pairing its most skilled artisans with its youngest craftspeople to teach and hone expert techniques, thus preserving the art of luxury shoemaking.

Salter House

Wife-and-husband duo Sandeep and Carson Salter founded Salter House in 2018. The store has an eponymous collectsion made in women-owned studios in New York City’s Garment District by tailors and dressmakers with a background in bridalwear. Notably, Salter House also stocks products from independent makers, including oak and horsehair dish brushes handcrafted by visually impaired artisans in Sweden and dressmaker scissors made in Italy by a family-run foundry.

Colleen Allen

After studying at Parsons School of Design and Central Saint Martins, and later interning under Raf Simons at Calvin Klein, Colleen Allen spent three years designing menswear at The Row, before making the switch to womenswear when she launched her own label in 2024. Rooted in historical research, her Victorian-inspired collectsion features velvet coats lined with removable tulle and muslin, and sheer chiffon dresses embroidered with antique sequins.

Ralph Lauren

From its vintage, hand-knitted American flag sweaters to the decorative embroidery in its 50th Anniversary collectsion—which took artisans in India and Italy over 1,500 hours to complete—craftsmanship has always been a pillar for Ralph Lauren. This commitment was on display on the Spring 2026 runway, with a made-to-order pencil skirt featuring featherlight leather strips hand-embroidered over linen. And the sleek burl-wood-and-metal top handles of the Ralph Tote are entirely hand-carved, its edges carefully painted by skilled artisans.

Chloé

Though Chloé has embodied many aesthetics over the years, from founder Gaby Aghion’s elegant silk blouses to current creative director Chemena Kamali’s boho-chic bent, craftsmanship is its through line. The brand is also committed to working with long-lasting, durable materials, and was the first luxury fashion house to earn a B-Corp certification for its focus on social and environmental responsibility.

Boucheron

Frédéric Boucheron founded his eponymous French jewelry house in 1858, revolutionizing the industry with the now-famous Question Mark necklace—the first high-jewelry necklace without a clasp. Current creative director Claire Choisne channels the same passion for craft and innovation, working with artisans to create dazzling one-of-a-kind pieces. Take the recent Carte Blanche “Impermanence” collectsion, for which borosilicate glass is stretched to a fineness of just two millimeters, then shaped into intricate forms.

Diotima

Rachel Scott looked to her Jamaican roots, as well as her studies in French existentialism and post-structuralism, when launching Diotima in 2021. Intent on establishing a luxury brand that honors craftsmanship techniques outside of Europe, Scott made crochet the brand’s signature design element, hand-crafted in Jamaica by local artisans. The collectsion also includes macramé pieces hand-knotted in India, and chunky mesh separates adorned with hand-sewn crystals.

Don't Let Disco

Every piece in Ashley Moubayed’s collectsion—be it a necklace of smoky quartz, garnet, lapis, and citrine; a 14K yellow-gold twisted fringe bracelet; or a fun bag charm that you can also hang on your belt loop—is handbeaded in the designer’s Brooklyn studio. Each accessory is made from Moubayed’s rich and varied assortment of upcycled, natural, and found materials. A play on the sentiment “don’t let this go,” Don’t Let Disco routinely hosts beading bars, allowing guests to create their own pieces.

Mateo New York

Born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Matthew Harris honed his jewelry-making skills in New York’s Jewelry District, learning directly from benchworkers with decades of experience in metalsmithing, gem-setting, polishing, and engraving. The self-taught designer launched Mateo as a men’s line in 2009 and rebranded with a focus on women’s fine jewelry in 2014. His minimalist designs decked in diamonds, pearls, topaz, and other gemstones set in gold are all made in New York City.

Loewe

Considered and detailed work has always been central to the brand, born from a collectsive of Madrid-based leather craftsmen in 1846, as showcased in the construction of iconic pieces like the Puzzle and Amazona bags. (The former is composed of 75 pieces of handcut leather, meticulously handsewn and handstitched together.) Because of its reverence for all disciplines of craft, the house launched the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2016, where artists from over 100 countries are judged by a jury of established leaders from the worlds of architecture, design, art criticism, museum curatorship, and more.

Omega

For a timepiece to carry Omega’s Master Chronometer certification, it must pass eight tests set by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology, ranging from magnetic exposure to water submersion. The first watch worn on the moon, every Omega is designed for durability and to last a lifetime.

Jaeger-LeCoultre

The company designs, decorates, and manufactures all of its watches—assembled and finished by hand—in its own ateliers. Over a thousand professionals representing 180 skills produce the collectsion; among them the Métiers Rares department, specializing in enamelling, engraving, and gem-setting.

Chava Studio

Olivia Villanti could never find a collared shirt that she loved, so she decided to make her own. She was lucky enough to have some helpful connections: Her in-laws have owned and operated Gilly e Hijos, a fabric and shirting studio that imports textiles from Europe to Mexico, for over 30 years. After moving from NYC to her husband’s native Mexico City, Villanti launched the made-to-order shirting brand Chava Studio in 2020. It has since expanded from signatures like a slim-fitting Oxford button-down with a contrasting collar and cuffs to other categories, including knits.

Thom Browne

Thom Browne began his business as a made-to-measure suit shop in New York City. That bespoke approach carried through the brand’s expansion to men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, and haute couture. Hand-knitted sweaters are a staple, as are hand-embellished separates with Swarovski crystals. Many bags, such as the Bolton Bag, are hand-finished.

Hermès

It was craftsmanship that established Hermès as a premier harness- and saddle-making company in 1837, and it remains core to the brand today. It takes a single artisan 15 to 20 hours to assemble the 36 parts of a Kelly bag, and the brand’s legendary silk scarves demand a similar labor of love, involving roughly 600 hours of work to complete the first step alone. In 2021, the brand established its own in-house apprenticeship school, L’École Hermès des savoir-faire.

Tod's

Founded in 1920, Tod’s has become synonymous with pieces like the T Timeless Shopping Bag and bomber jackets crafted from 100 percent Woolmark-certified Superfine merino, which are both handmade in Italy. The Gommino Loafer, introduced in the 1970s, is the house’s leading icon. It involves 100 steps of assembly, including attaching 133 rubber sole pebbles. The sides and sole are made from a single piece of leather that comfortably molds to the foot.

Campillo

Patricio Campillo’s brand is inspired by his heritage, blending traditional Mexican aesthetics with modern silhouettes and an inclusive, forward-thinking take on masculine dressing. For Spring 2026, the label worked with textile artisans to create a contemporary reinterpretation of Mexican intrecciato, inspired by basketry, that complements its hand-dyed linens, pieces bedecked with silver embellishments, and charro-inspired suiting.

Van Cleef & Arpels

Maker of the famed four-leaf-clover-inspired Alhambra, the company uses savoir-faire techniques such as mirror-polishing with threads, brushes, and pastes, refining every surface before and after setting, as well as after assembly. Another house signature, the Mystery Set, positions stones—each taking up to eight hours to cut—so that no metal or prongs are visible. A clip made using the Mystery Set technique requires roughly 300 hours of work.

McQueen

Before his untimely death in 2010, Lee Alexander McQueen was among the most revered designers of his generation, recognized for his painstakingly detailed work. His succeeding creative directors, Sarah Burton and Seán McGirr, have upheld his commitment to extraordinary quality. Fabrics like denim and organza are manually manipulated to create rich, weathered textures; the brand’s skull knuckle clutches are handbeaded; and detailed embroidery and crocheting are done in the London atelier.

Dries Van Noten

An avid gardener, Dries Van Noten has long drawn inspiration from horticulture, bringing many designs to life by collaborating with skilled artisans in India, making embroidery, block printing, and ikat weaving brand signatures. Following Van Noten’s exit at the helm in 2024, creative director Julian Klausner continues to celebrate craft: freehand whipstitching adorns jackets and vests, separates are hand-printed using the Japanese marbling Suminagashi technique, and house jewelry is handmade.

Audemars Piguet

The brand’s watches begin as hand-drawn sketches that are turned into 3D computer models before coming to life as wax prototypes, then final samples made from precious materials—all careful steps taken before an item even goes into production.

Old Stone Trade

Founder Melissa Ventosa Martin identifies craftspeople around the world, each specializing in a single category, and sells limited quantities of their goods online and at her by-appointment-only boutique on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Old Stone Trade’s community of artisans includes 100Hands, a luxury shirting brand based in Amsterdam that dedicates 34 hours to handmaking its signature Gold Line shirt; Emma Mooney-Pettway, a bespoke quilter from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, known for quilts that resemble the aerial view of a house; and Glenn Liburd, who spent 30 years designing, cutting, and sewing for Levi’s and other denim brands before launching Glenn’s Denim.

Pomellato

Over 150 artisans bring the Pomellato collectsion to life at its atelier, Casa Pomellato, in Milan. Founded in 1967 by Pino Rabolini, the jewelry brand—which is known for its use of rose gold and colored gemstones—employs a method called microfusion, which dates back to 3500 B.C. The technique involves encasing wax into a jewelry mold, melting the wax out, and then pouring molten metal in to create each piece.

Coachtopia

Launched in April 2023, Coachtopia is a circular sub-brand from Coach, drawing on over 80 years of expert leather craftsmanship for an affordable, planet-minded collectsion. It transforms leftover, recycled, and discarded materials into handbags, bag charms, and small leather goods. Its Alter/Ego range, for instance, is fashioned from discarded scraps of Coach suede and leather, woven into checked totes and crescent bags.

Bvlgari

Manifattura Bvlgari in Valenza, Italy is the world’s largest single-brand jewelry-manufacturing site. The brand oversees every aspect of its fine jewelry production, from the sourcing of materials to the polishing of glimmering cocktail rings. In partnership with Tarì Design School, Bvlgari also has a publicly accessible training center dedicated to skills such as gemstone setting, goldsmithing, and polishing.

Max Mara

A short drive from the brand’s headquarters in Reggio Emilia, Max Mara produces 100,000 garments a year at Manifatture di San Maurizio. The vast majority—70,000, to be exact—are its signature coats, which begin as rolls of fabrics scanned for imperfections, and are then precisely cut to minimize waste. The process involves a mix of machine stitching and manual artistry, with finishing done by hand.

Louis Vuitton

When the house opened in 1854, it revolutionized luxury travel pieces. Today, more than 300 artisans work in the Asnières atelier (the site of the family’s former residence, chosen for its proximity to the Seine, which historically made it easy for wood, canvas, and other raw materials to be delivered by water) to handmake hard-sided luggage, handbags, leather goods, and custom pieces. Bags often involve upwards of 200 steps, and trunks, in some cases, can take months—even years—to complete.

Bottega Veneta

The Intrecciato woven leather weave is one of the most recognizable textures in fashion. Developed in 1975 by artisans Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro after they realized that their sewing machines couldn’t stitch dense leathers, it became a house signature at Bottega Veneta. Today, you won’t find a single industrial machine at the atelier in Montebello Vicentino: Bags are still made start to finish by hand, typically by a single artisan.

Givenchy

The French house has long been synonymous with timeless elegance, thanks largely to founder Hubert de Givenchy’s simple yet glamorous designs, especially those created for Audrey Hepburn. An oversized bow and a classic bustier are among the pieces that exemplify the atelier’s craft, both still cut with a nod to Givenchy’s original construction.

Lauren Manoogian

Operating between New York and Peru, Lauren Manoogian crafts her collectsion with an emphasis on soft textiles and natural, highly textured fibers. No two of its handmade knits are the same, making non-uniformity a house code. A small selection of shoes are crafted from vegetable tanned leathers, with handmade wooden heels.

Emily Dawn Long

The namesake designer spent years making one-off looks for friends before launching her label in 2019. Her floppy crochet hats are routinely spotted on everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Hailey Bieber, but the core of her brand is a range of vintage-inspired dresses and separates, many of them handmade by female artisans in Peru.

Ashlyn

Known for her elegant, impeccably tailored, sculptural designs, Ashlynn Park brings her skills as a pattern-maker to her New York-based label. She spent two years developing her debut collectsion, and has been known to spend six weeks perfecting a single dress—often made from a single piece of fabric, in keeping with her ethos of zero-waste luxury.

This story appears in Marie Claire's 2026 Craftsmanship Issue.