Craftsmanship Terms: A simple glossary.

What do these often-used words really mean?

Hello readers.

I am Namrata Gohain, a designer-turned-storyteller, writer and content producer. My work lives at the intersection of storytelling, sustainability, creativity, and cultural curiosity. And I often find myself happiest living out of a suitcase with a notebook in hand!

In between travelogues and personal essays from my creative journey, I write about my learnings from a decade-long stint in the artisanal crafts & sustainability sector.

With the aim to keep things jargon-free, I’ve put together a simple glossary of often-used terms in the world of conscious fashion and craft.
Chances are, you’ve heard these words before — maybe even have a rough idea of what they mean.
But here’s a short and clear introduction to each of them, so we can all better understand the language we use when we speak about handmade crafts and thoughtful living.

So, here we go!

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1. Artisanal

An artisan is a skilled craftsperson. So, ‘Artisanal’ means something made by an artisan - often in small batches, fully or partially by hands, using time-honoured techniques. These are usually high-quality, unique pieces that aren't mass-produced. They carry care, time, and a high level of expertise.

2. Handmade

A self-explanatory term, ‘Handmade’ means anything made by hand, not by machines. But handmade is more than just a process - it’s time, effort, and often, a bit of someone’s personal story. Every stitch, weave or stroke comes with intention.

While both handmade and artisanal refer to products created by human hands, artisanal often implies a higher level of traditional skill and heritage methods. For example, if I hand embroider a handkerchief, it makes it a handmade product and not necessarily artisanal.

3. Handloom

A term often heard in relation to Indian textiles, ‘Handloom’ refers to fabric woven manually on a loom, without electricity. It’s a slower method that preserves traditional weaving techniques and supports lakhs of weavers across India. Every metre of handloom fabric holds heritage and heart.

4. Slow Fashion

The opposite of fast fashion, ‘Slow fashion’ is about making and buying clothes more mindfully by using better materials, ensuring fair pay for makers, and creating garments that last beyond trends and seasons. It’s rooted in questioning the environmental and human cost of the fashion industry, and choosing to slow it all down.

5. Ethical

‘Ethical’ brands focus on who makes the product and how they’re treated. It means fair wages, safe working environments, dignity and respect. Behind every ethical tag is (hopefully) a person who wasn’t exploited.

6. Natural Dyes

‘Natural dyes’ are made from plants, minerals, roots, and even kitchen waste - like indigo, turmeric, pomegranate rind, madder root, etc. These colours are gentle to our ecosystem and tend to fade beautifully with time. They are far less harmful to the environment than regular synthetic chemical dyes.

7. Upcycle

‘Upcycling’ is about giving old or discarded materials a new life - like making patchwork jackets from old sarees, or turning scrap fabric into accessories. It's a smart, creative way to reduce what might otherwise be considered waste.

8. Recycle

‘Recycling’ involves breaking waste down to create new raw materials and then using them to create new products - like breaking down a plastic to create fibres and then turning them into t-shirts.

While both recycling and upcycling are practices to repurpose waste, upcycling retains the original form, while recycling transforms it entirely. Upcycling is more doable at a smaller scale with limited usage of energy, while recycling is carried out at a more industrial level.

9. Low Waste

Both a philosophy and a practice, ‘Low-waste’ means generating as little waste as possible during production, use, or disposal. It is being mindful about how something is made or how we live. It could mean reusing scraps, composting, or just saying no to things we don’t need.

10. Circular

‘Circular’ means rethinking the entire system that currently exists and moving away from the “take-make-dispose” mindset and instead aims to keep materials in use for as long as possible. This could mean designing for durability, repairing, reselling, recycling and composting, so nothing ends up as waste.

While low waste focuses on reducing waste at each stage, circular processes aim to create a system called ‘closed loop’, where resources are continuously reused or returned safely to nature.

11. Sustainable

An umbrella term, simply put, ‘Sustainable’ means doing things in a way that doesn’t harm the planet or people - now or in the future. It can apply to how we dress, eat, travel or build businesses. It’s about being kind, not just trendy.

All the terms above are different pathways under the broader idea of sustainability. They all help shape a better future.

12. Conscious Consumer:

That’s us. A conscious consumer is someone who makes informed, thoughtful choices.
If you’ve ever asked: Who made this? Where did it come from? Do I really need it? - you’re already on the path.
Being conscious doesn’t mean being perfect. It just means caring enough to try.

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Hope I helped to simplify some of the terms we hear often in the sustainability space. Ending this newsletter with one of my favourite quotes:

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” — Anne Marie Bonneau

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I document stories on responsible travel, crafts, cuisine, slow living and my creative journey.

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