Ownever
Ownever is a Portuguese luxury handbag house built around endangered craftsmanship, working directly with artisans to create pieces designed…
Handmade & Local Crafts
Skill passed down and kept alive: the burel wool of Burel Factory in the Serra da Estrela, cork rugs from Sugo, and the creative village of Cerdeira in the Serra da Lousã. Made by hand, made to matter.
Projects in this focus
Vada
Vada is a Portuguese upcycling brand that transforms discarded automotive and bicycle tires and inner tubes into handmade, eco-friendly bags…
Jinja
Jinja is a sustainable design brand in Porto, founded in 2012 by Norma Silva. It makes handmade home products from reused industrial textile…
Hoooked Portugal
Hoooked Portugal, based in Zibreira, Torres Novas, makes 100% recycled yarn from fashion industry waste. Its yarns are for crochet, knitting…
Tinctorium Studio
Tinctorium Studio is a natural dye and eco-print atelier near Lisbon that makes one-of-a-kind wearable art from locally foraged and permacul…
Ericas
Ericas is a Portuguese company that handcrafts pet toys from 100% natural heather roots using traditional artisan methods. The toys are dura…
Tinctória Natural
Tinctória Natural, a circular-economy project in Alentejo, makes sustainable paints and dyes from agro-food bio-waste and runs workshops, re…
Hippocampus Sabão
Hippocampus Sabão makes natural soap by hand in Tavira, Algarve, inspired by the seahorses of the Ria Formosa lagoon. It is working towards …
Sugo Cork Rugs
Founded in 2017 by textile designer Susana Godinho, Sugo Cork Rugs handweaves bespoke rugs from cork in Espargo, Portugal, combining traditi…
Atelier Janela Velha
An upcycling atelier in Torres Vedras, founded by Margarida Vieira, that makes handmade jewellery and slow fashion and restores furniture, a…
Corkor
Corkor is a Portuguese brand that handcrafts vegan accessories from genuine cork in Barreiro, as a cruelty-free alternative to leather. It m…
Terra Lab
Terra Lab is a Portuguese online shop specialising in air plants (tillandsias), kokedamas and other plant-based products for sustainable hom…
Burel Factory
Burel Factory is a Portuguese brand born in the Serra da Estrela, dedicated to preserving and innovating the traditional burel wool textile …
Handmade and local crafts in Portugal
Portuguese craft survived because the industry that would have replaced it never fully arrived in the interior. Burel wool, cork, cane, linen and tile all kept a working tradition, and in several cases the same building is still doing it.
Burel Factory reopened a wool mill in Manteigas and put the Serra da Estrela cloth back into production. Corkor handcrafts cork accessories in Barreiro, Sugo weaves cork rugs near Feira, Atelier Janela Velha works from discarded materials, and Cerdeira runs a whole schist village in the Serra da Lousã as a place for makers.
Buying directly is usually cheaper than the shop and always more informative. Related focuses: sustainable fashion, upcycling and repurposing and eco-friendly products. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.