Kay Gundlack has wanted to design shoes since he was five years old. At 32, after a career as an orthopaedic shoemaker, he decided to launch his own business after watching a cabaret performance. A drab character going to an office every day made him realise that life is too short to not live your dream. He quit his day job to launch his shoe label the very next day. A TV show brought him to national attention, and his designs now grace the feet of illustrious names on stages across the world. He is still moved each time he delivers a bespoke order, because giving people joy is so important to him; he wants to get each shoe right.

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Meisterstrasse Handmade is a directory of craftsmanship aiming to introduce the general public to the products and passions of the finest artisans. The organisation was established in Austria the 1990s by Nicola and Christoph Rath, both passionate about fine craftsmanship, who wanted to highlight the work of artisans across the country practising their metier to the highest standard. It has since expanded to cover Germany, the Netherlands and Japan, presenting hundreds of master artisans and their companies as members. It intends to continue its expansion across Europe and beyond. The organisation seeks out unique products, makers and masters to recommend on its website and in its publications and lobbies for a modern culture of craftsmanship in order to close the gap between artisans and discerning customers. Its Meisterstrasse Selection label is a stamp of excellence given to those who have achieved international prominence by producing items of superior quality with great attention to detail.

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Initially textiles was only intended to serve as a prologue for studies in design, however Detlev Diehm was immediately intrigued by the possibilities he found and decided to continue this path. During an apprenticeship and years as a journeyman at the Bavarian state opera house he gained the knowledge and skills to further materialize his ideas to finally reach the rank of a master tailor. Studies at the Domus Academy in Milan and two years as an assistant to Quirino Conti followed. In the decades to come, Detlev continued to develop his unique aesthetic language across different positions with well-known luxury brands, culminating in the establishment of Diehm Bespoke in 2016.  An aesthetic language that can be described as discreet flamboyance.

Diehm, Detlev

Discreet flamboyance

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The story of Fiona Bennett is also the story of a city. A story that began when the British native moved to Berlin in 1972. With her childhood dream of becoming a sculptor still in the back of her mind, she decided to use her unique sense for shapes and colours by becoming a milliner instead, “I was thrilled to revive the dying craft, to transfer it into our time, and to develop and experiment with new techniques”. The creative freedom and experimental spirit in Berlin encouraged her to unwaveringly follow the path of her imagination, ultimately leading her to become Germany’s most well-known and distinguished hat maker. Today her creations are valued by celebrities and the German nobility alike.

Bennett, Fiona

An icon of German hat design

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Matthias Vickermann turned to bespoke shoemaking after deciding that his first career, in tax consulting, wasn't his true passion. Having rather large feet (UK 14/EU 49), Matthias had always struggled to find fashionable, high quality shoes, so he decided to take an apprenticeship with a master shoemaker in Baden-Baden. In 2004 he opened a workshop in the town with his partner Martin Stoya, aimed at both clients looking for bespoke shoes and anybody else interested in the craft of shoemaking or shoe care. These days, Matthias and Martin are well known for giving talks on shoemaking all over the world. In the workshop itself, considered one of the most beautiful in Germany, they regularly offer shoe care workshops for individuals or small groups.

Vickermann, Matthias & Stoya, Martin

All about shoes

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Renate von Löwis von Menar is happiest when she can create new designs on her looms in her studio in Hamburg. Her daily work schedule can reach 10 hours per day. Renate was introduced to the Bauhaus style of textiles when she was a child by regular visiting Gustav Beck, an artist and art collector. At the time, Beck brought many international artists to Wolfsburg, Renate's hometown. Her fascination with the Bauhaus tapestry not only motivated her to train as a hand weaver, but also led her to create her own designs and even weaving techniques. Another important influence in Renate's work is music and her time as a tour manager in the music industry.

Von Löwis Of Menar, Renate

The musicality of tapestries

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Your authorizations

Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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