Meet håndværk

So you may be wondering what the heck is a handvaerk, or should I say håndværk.  No, it's not a new item from Ikea.  It's a new brand making it's name for luxury basics.  You know the essentials in your closet that you wear over and over again.   Handvaerk is the mastermind of the multicultural couple composed of Esteban and Petra.  And I was so very lucky to have a chat with founder Esteban, as well as get my hands on a few of their collection.

So, give me the background story.

I graduated college back in 1995 and worked as an investment banker straight out of college, but my family was in the textile business for 100 years in Peru making fabrics.  To this day my mother is in LA doing custom design pieces.  Me and my wife saw there was a need for really high end quality basics.  My wife Petra is from Prague and studied at FIT, she's really the mastermind for design and textile, while I mainly deal with the factories as well as testing the fit and fabric.

What makes your basics a notch above the rest?

Our process is reverse design.  We first come up with really good fabric first, and then decide what products can use that fabric.  We really focus on having the best fabric which starts with traveling to Peru for the finest Pima cotton, and high gauge yarn. And all of our pieces we hand-make or hand-finish. Our T-shirts also use a two-fold fabric meaning finer threads and a higher quality fabric.

What does håndværk mean, how did you pick that as the name?

Håndværk is a danish word that means hand-crafted or artisanal.  I'm Peruvian, my wife is from Prague, and we're based out of New York, we always loved the word and wanted our brand to be a global brand.

What is the design aesthetic, will there be more products in the future?

We focus on core basics that are very streamlined and sleek.  High quality pieces in black, white and grey.   We're a brand for people who appreciate high quality and minimalist design.   For now we're focusing on our current products, but look to expanding the line in the next couple of years.

What is your favorite piece?

I favor the undergarments.  They're the most important part of your wardrobe that many people neglect, once I got our products, I could never go back.  They sit right and they're breathable.  I'm one of our best clients!

And as a thank you to the readers at We Wear Things -
Handvaerk has a promo code  for 25% off for the first 20 users.