From embroidery to ceramics, bespoke furniture to haute couture fashion, handicraft has long been a hallmark of luxury. But in our modern era, while we fight against worker exploitation and look for cleaner, greener means of production, what does this mean for the role of the artisan and skills that date back centuries? Could artisanal skills be the key to a more sustainable future?    While the word ‘artisan’ is itself in some danger of being diluted and devalued, now appearing on everything from Ikea homewares to a Pret A Manger baguette, its selling power does at least prove an encouraging point: that consumers want to invest in human stories. A 2015 study in the Journal of Marketing found that participants were willing to pay up to 17% more for a handcrafted item – an effect they attributed to customers perceiving “the handmade product itself to be literally imbued with love.” The phenomenal rise of craft marketplace Etsy would seem to agree. “Artisanal activities represent an authentically sustainable, profoundly human-centred approach to production,” says Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, an international non-profit which celebrates and preserves master craftsmanship, championing the role of artisanal production in an increasingly computerised world of design.  ‘Crafting a more human future’ is the...