About us
Ethical and sustainable craftsmanship is ingrained in Ethnicraft's core identity. While our pieces exude simplicity, they are driven by a relentless pursuit of innovation and meticulous attention to detail. At Ethnicraft, true sustainability encompasses ethical practices, responsible sourcing, and a commitment to timeless designs. This holistic approach is woven into our brand ethos.
Through seamlessly blending cutting-edge techniques with traditional craftsmanship, we push boundaries to create pieces that captivate aesthetically while inspiring through unwavering ethical and environmental responsibility. Each Ethnicraft creation exemplifies our pursuit of excellence, with every detail meticulously refined until meeting our exacting standards. Our commitment to quality and sustainability sets us apart, offering customers beautiful, functional pieces aligned with their values.
Our story
Our story began humbly, with a single shipping container brimming with decorative treasures from Indonesia. In 1995, Philippe returned home to Antwerp with a trove of furniture and interior accessories discovered during his Indonesian travels, intent on selling these unique finds. Before long, our longstanding friendship blossomed into a business partnership, and we began importing one container every few months.
Within a year, clients eagerly awaited at the Antwerp docks, numbered tickets in hand, hoping to secure that one coveted item that spoke to their soul. Recognising an opportunity, we swiftly decided to design and produce our own furniture, establishing our first manufacturing site in Indonesia.
Today, outstanding craftsmanship remains the beating heart of our brand, and beneath the simplicity of our pieces lies an unwavering drive for innovation. By incorporating advanced techniques into our creative processes, each new design undergoes meticulous revision and refinement down to the smallest detail. Our collections distill the very essence of what we believe constitutes exceptional design: pieces brimming with character, crafted from quality materials that acquire a beautiful patina over time.
Thank you for allowing us to become part of the stories that unfold within your lives.
Ethnicraft co-founders
Benoit Loos & Philippe Delaisse
Our Designers
Alongside our main designer, Alain van Havre, we collaborate with a close community recognised for their distinct design aesthetic and use of both current and traditional techniques. This process contributes to the unique quality and authenticity of each Ethnicraft piece.
Alain van Havre
"I'm captivated by the freedom of movement, which is why I strive to infuse my designs with a sense of dynamism and escape the constraints of static compositions." For Alain van Havre, inspiration is the driving force behind his work. With a deep connection to his surroundings and a passion for natural materials, he has cultivated an exceptional expertise in woodworking. Over the years, he has developed a unique visual language centred around form, beautifully expressed in collections such as the Bok, Graphic, PI, and Stairs. Alain believes that for a design to resonate with someone, it must be brought closer to nature. During the past two decades, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the Ethnicraft designs that we have come to know and love.
Jacques Deneef
Jacques Deneef, an Antwerp-based designer, harbours a profound fascination with elemental materials like glass, wood, leather, paper, and wax. His artistic journey began with a mastery of oil and acrylic painting, but he now dedicates his time to breathing new life into repurposed objects, alongside design endeavours spanning jewellery, lighting, textiles, furniture, and decor. In bestowing a renewed existence upon these objects, Jacques believes they undergo a transformative metamorphosis, becoming imbued with newfound purpose and ultimately culminating as works of art.
Carlo Massoud
Carlo Massoud's creations are fuelled by the exploration of new and uncharted territories. Through these journeys, he uncovers fresh narratives to share through collaborations with local artisans and designers, weaving a global tapestry born from the unique interplay of people, cultures, and materials. His remarkable work is the product of his relentless questioning of social, political, cultural, and environmental norms, often compelling viewers to interrogate their own understanding of the subject matter. This approach purposefully cultivates a thought-provoking sense of confusion and provocation, prompting deeper contemplation.
Dawn Sweitzer
A boundless wellspring of creative energy and a profound fascination with the world of craftsmanship catalysed Dawn Sweitzer's artistic journey. Her works are expressive distillations of her travels, immersions in enriching cultures, the textures woven into landscapes, and her passions for photography, cuisine, and fashion. There is no fixed formula governing how her designs take shape; they are fluid amalgamations that seamlessly blend ideas, referencing vintage motifs through a modern lens. Within the confines of her beautiful North Carolina studio, Dawn works, plays, and discovers, experimenting across a diverse array of media: paint, woven textiles, mirror and glass, home accessories, and decorative pieces.
Nathan Yong
Drawing inspiration from his keen observation of the visual world around him, Nathan Yong's designs challenge the existential questions surrounding objects. Rather than indulging in superfluous details, he captures the poetic essence of products through a process of stripping away the extraneous. The resulting objects possess a lightness and restraint that lends them an inherent quality. Based in Singapore, Nathan helms a multi-disciplinary design consultancy that spans diverse fields such as graphic, industrial, interior, and architectural design, as well as strategic planning for product development, manufacturing processes, and branding.
Sustainability
At Ethnicraft, we possess an unparalleled advantage – full command over the entire lifecycle of our products, from (re)design and production to distribution, refurbishment, and recycling. This comprehensive control places us in a unique position to spearhead a sustainable transformation within our industry.
Our philosophy is rooted in the belief that durability and sustainability begin with the judicious selection of quality materials, and wooden products hold promise for refurbishment. As we look ahead to the next quarter-century, we are crafting a new vision for sustainability, one predicated on the principles of circular design and extending the lifespans of our creations.
We recognize that this undertaking is a long, ambitious, and imperfect journey, where every incremental step carries equal weight to the pivotal decisions. However, we embrace this challenge wholeheartedly, for it is through this steadfast commitment that we can effect meaningful change, one stride at a time.
Social Responsibility
From its inception, Ethnicraft has prioritized building robust, lasting relationships with its suppliers. Equal emphasis is placed on human factors as on product quality. We closely monitor working conditions, regularly auditing our various production facilities to uphold labor laws, human rights, and ethical social and environmental practices. Diversity is a core value, and we actively promote gender equality across our offices and manufacturing sites. We firmly believe that a diverse array of roles, responsibilities, and profiles fosters the professional and personal growth of all our people.
No Waste
Recognising wood as a precious resource, we strive to optimise every piece. Environmental stewardship is a top priority, driving us to maximize waste reduction from the earliest design phase. Following this principle, our designs aim to minimize or repurpose as much scrap wood as feasible. Production byproducts like leftover logs, off-cuts, and sawdust are creatively reused for other applications. Sawdust from logs either fuels the drying ovens or gets compressed into pellet fuel. Any plank trimming remnants get recycled as base materials or incorporated into fingerjointed panels.