Mastering the Basics

For you, ‘Mastering the Basics’ means a tightly focused edit of luxurious foundational pieces that simplifies getting dressed each day – exceptional casual clothing that offers supreme comfort, perfect fit, uncompromising attention to details and remarkable versatility. Basics that are anything but.

For us, it means an uncompromising focus on distilling clothing to its purest form: carefully and sustainably produced, thoughtfully designed, made by people we know well and trust. It’s about getting the fundamentals of your modern wardrobe as close to perfect as possible: made well, and made to last.

Better – not more

That’s the principle håndværk was founded on, and the one that still guides us today. We make the most essential, pared back pieces for your wardrobe, to the highest possible standards, using the world’s finest natural materials.

It’s about doing things the right way, simply because it’s the right thing to do, from the way we source our natural materials to the exacting quality standards we hold ourselves to. We make clothing with integrity for discerning people who value sustainability, longevity, design and craftsmanship as much as we do.

A Family Endeavor

Sharing a background in textiles, rather than fashion, Petra Brichnacova and Esteban Saba recognized a fundamental quantity-over-quality problem with the clothing industry, whether you shopped fast fashion or luxury labels. Avowed minimalists, the husband-and-wife team’s idea was simple: a hardworking yet luxurious wardrobe of versatile, beautifully made pieces with a backstory you could feel good about.

With her background in textile design and luxury retail, Petra knew firsthand the relationship between quality and sustainability. Part of three generations of textile production in Peru, Esteban knew precisely how, where and by whom the finest garments could be made.

In 2013, håndværk was launched. We searched our own closets to find pieces we felt were truly essential – and then redesigned them to wear incredibly and feel superb. We turned to longstanding family partnerships in Peru to produce each piece with care. From perfecting a design to packing the finished garments, and every conceivable stage in between, it’s a labor of love (and more than a little obsession).