Crafted - Stories for the conscious buyer

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+ west elm

Propelled by the commitment to invest $50M in the global artisan sector, West Elm and its parent company, William Sonoma Inc., is leading the charg...

So that's how it's done

The Artistry of Basketry

The raw materials used can be as varied as the shapes and colors of the finished product. But the one thing that binds together the age-old craft o...

Led by Women

Back to Africa

Sometimes you need to go back to move forward. When Viola Labi decided to launch her own business—Woven Worldwide—she didn’t do it in her native To...

PBP Insights

Porcelain's New Turn

Once you learn just a bit about porcelain, it's easy to understand why so many of us think of it as the Rolls Royce of ceramics. With its high firi...

PBP Insights

Leather for Good

When we talk about sustainability, we don't often talk about leather. We should. As so many of our maker partners in Turkey remind us, leather is p...

Led by Women

Fulfillment, Far From Home

When Kennedy Leavens founded Awamaki in 2009, she adopted a time-tested philosophy: If you want to help lift women out of poverty, don’t give mone...

So that's how it's done

Born Again

Discarded magazines pages that are transformed into vibrant holiday ornaments. Reclaimed textile waste that finds a new life as a furniture fabric....

Led by Women

Strength in Numbers

238 Number of makers in the Powered by People community. 82% Percentage of those brands that are women-led*, totaling 189. *PBP considers brands t...

Partnerships

Working for a Better World

When you’re striving to effect wide-spread, positive change, you can’t go it alone. You need partners. Which is why Powered by People is thrilled t...

Introducing

Kazi, United States

"Everyone deserves to make a fair wage." That’s Kazi’s mantra, and it’s one they have followed through on every day since launching in 2013. The br...

Led by Women

A More Functional Life

While studying at Parsons School of Design in New York, Calcutta native Nidhi Goenka got inspired by the Bauhaus movement of 1919. Which can probab...

So that's how it's done

Blurred Lines

A table runner, a pillowcase, an upholstered chair. You’re probably familiar with ikat fabric and its trademark, slightly blurred geometric pattern...

PBP Insights

Conscious Decisions

Over the past year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a mixed effect on consumption. Some categories and distribution channels for “essentia...

PBP Insights

Handmade for the Digital Age

Accounting, order tracking, quality control, progress reports…in short, production management. To most of us in the western world, these processes...

Led by Women

Dream Weaver

Marta Castaneda, founder of Pais Textil, explains how she turned her passion into a profession.

Led by Women

Power Company

Chhoti Si Asha is a volunteer-driven non-profit that incorporates a livliehood center for women to make crafts, an after-school program for the com...

Introducing

Colectivo 1050°, Mexico

When Kythzia Barrera holds a handmade ceramic comal in her hands, she knows she’s cradling more than a beautiful cooking vessel. She is holding the...

Introducing

AAKS, Ghana

There’s so much beauty in the handcrafted products created by the artisans at AAKS, and that beauty is magnified a hundred times over when you lear...

PBP Insights

The Future is Transparent

It’s all about trust. Consumers are demanding unique, high-quality products—but more than that, they want origin transparency. They want the story...

PBP Insights

Creative Manufacturing and Handmade: A Sector Whose Time Has Come

Four continents. 191 enterprises. 35,000 people. Powered by People teamed up with the Mastercard Foundation to highlight the enormous potential of ...

Introducing

Matamba, Colombia

Founders Jennibeth Iguarán and Juanita Gil travel throughout Colombia to collaborate with various artisan communities on everything from clothing t...