An artisan is a skilled maker who makes products by hand with an exceptional manual dexterity and tacit knowledge. Artisanal labor has always been inseparable from the culture of fashion and it still plays a key role in the making of fashion products, from the hand embroidery and weaving communities in India and Thailand to the luxury master craftsmen and craftswomen in the heritage fashion houses of Europe. Despite the high level of skill required, artisanal labor is notoriously exploited because the long hours needed for hand production make it impossible for artisanal products to compete on price point with mass-manufactured alternatives. Globalization has further devalued artisanal labor by increasing global competition and enabling the art and craft dealers and fashion brands from advanced economies to profit from low labor costs and insufficient labor rights legislation in developing countries with rich artisan traditions.(1-8)
ARTISAN
