Meet the makers at Wright & Smith Founder Sasha Young on connecting customers with the people behind the craft

“I believe in the value of sharing the heritage and knowledge [behind design],” says Sasha Young, interior designer and founder of online artisan platform Wright & Smith. Young launched the e-commerce platform in 2016 as “a global forum” of artisans and designers who are passionate about their craft, to highlight the fascinating stories behind their products and connect them directly with customers.

The handpicked artisans (the wrights and smiths) featured on Wright & Smith operate in small workshops and studios around the world. Reference fabric designer J&J Interiors, which works with master embroiders in India to create poetic interior textiles that bridge cultures and celebrate the art of modern needlework. And then there’s textile artist Chiara Grifantini, who takes inspiration from her travels by free-painting rich botanical scenes on natural fabrics to create unique cushion covers and wall hangings.

“At the crux of it all, what we do is to educate customers on appreciating the story behind the design, which will inherently make you appreciate the design even more,” explains Young.

Then there’s the ever-evolving Sibast Furniture, a family-run outfit rooted by its heritage as one of the foremost Danish design dynasties. Sibast takes classic wooden Furniture from the 50s and 60s Danish design wave and brings it into the 21st century with superior modern finishes.

Traditional methods are used by London-based Furniture maker and woodturner Will Elworthy, who showcases the inherent beauty of timber with his modern, simple wooden Furniture.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based duo Julie & Jesse have mixed innovative ceramic techniques with ancient elements for their limited edition of porcelain vases, “Fragments”. The ceramicists travelled to the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, known as the porcelain capital, to source discarded moulds and porcelain pieces, before repurposing them in exquisite vases that have become collectors’ pieces.

Danish designer Troels Flensted explores the reaction of materials and colours in the manufacturing of accessories and Furniture. Each of his work is deliberately minimalistic in shape and allows the materials to speak for themselves.

Handpicked, handcrafted and made by people who pour passion into their work – Wright & Smith is the place to discover beautiful products made by global artisans that retain a personal touch.