Our Story
ARTIFACT began in 2010, in my basement with a vintage commercial sewing machine and a passion for designing and making well-crafted utilitarian goods. I had lost my job during The Great Recession of 2009-10 and created a shop on Etsy to gauge interest in my handmade designs rooted in a lifelong obsession with collecting vintage apparel and militaria.
ARTIFACT’s first product was the No.215 Lunch Tote in waxed canvas and leather. It was a unique take on the traditional paper lunch sack that caught the attention of NYC style writer Michael Williams (of A Continuous Lean). He mentioned liking it on his Twitter account. Shortly after, the Lunch Tote was featured in The New York Times, Uncrate, GQ, Gizmodo, and more.
The groundswell of press enabled me to quit my placeholder job, move into a proper studio with a small (but mighty) team, and focus on ARTIFACT full-time. I haven’t looked back since!
I’ve seen our handmade ARTIFACT bags in airports all over the world, and our aprons in the finest restaurants and workshops. When the pandemic hit, we shifted gears to make thousands of reusable masks.
Since 2010, we’ve watched trends and brands come and go. Timing and great press only goes so far. What’s kept ARTIFACT in the long game has been our obsessive dedication to quality and utility (read the reviews!), and our ceaseless devotion to classic style.
As we venture into another decade, our goals include continuing to develop our Sustainable Collection and shrink our ecological footprint.
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Chris Hughes