Artisan influencers & the role of craftsmanship in the future of luxury : the case of young bespoke tailors in Italy

Craftsmanship, driven by the “enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for its own sake” (Sennett, 2008), is the origin of most things we call luxury. Declared obsolete in the wake of industrialized production (Frater & Hawley, 2018; Mignosa & Kotipalli, 2019), handmade goods are back in consumers’ favor (Hsu & Nguyen Ngnoc, 2016). Perhaps in reaction to an ever more screen–based entertainment culture (Craft Council, 2012) or the “sea of sameness” (Silverman, cit. in Glassenberg, 2018) we find ourselves in, there is a hunger for the authentic and the handcrafted (Craft Council, 2012). In the luxury industry, craft techniques are revered as markers of quality and authenticity. Artisans and their work are the focus of luxury houses' advertising campaigns and young talent programs. Some even introduce their makers to the public at special festivals (e.g., Journées particulières by LVMH; Homo Faber by the Michelangelo Foundation) as the contact with the people behind the product is known to foster loyalty among customers and increase the perception of value (Waytz, 2019; Pricken, 2014). Skilled craftspeople and young talents are in such high demand that French luxury association Comité Colbert, in a rare and unconventional move, has even considered asking for help in an open letter to President Emanuel Macron (Wendlandt, 2022). Roughly at the same time, workers at Louis Vuitton’s manufacturing sites in France staged a walkout to demand higher pay and better working conditions (Lieber & Williams, 2022). The revival of craft might indeed have bolstered makers’ confidence. Digital channels provide them with cost-effective access to global markets and create opportunities to make a living as independent artisan entrepreneurs (Pret, 2019) outside the corporate structures of the modern luxury industry. Through social media artisans can tell the “back story” that matters to buyers (McAuley & Fillis, 2004), evoking positive values that consumers associate with