Frederic Alcantara is something of a marriage maker, fostering mutually beneficial relationships between Moroccan artisans and western marketplaces. In addition to giving artisans a global platform, Frederic helps safeguard the integrity of their artisan design traditions.

Thirty years ago, Frederic Alcantara left his native France for western Africa — a paradigm-shifting, career-shaping experience that inspired a lifetime of work alongside artisans around the world: “It was just an amazing attraction,” he says now. “I had to go to Africa! Thankfully, I followed that instinct—and Africa, over the years, has been very generous to me.”

Alcantara’s work in those early years focused on collaborating with the region’s most exemplary artisans, especially in Morocco — designers and craft-makers who often exemplified centuries of cultural heritage. Alcantara, who had graduated from college with a degree in biochemistry, found himself advising artisans on entering the western marketplace — and in doing so formalized his role from ad hoc consigliere to designer for Aid to Artisans, a powerful platform for promoting artisans while also safeguarding the integrity of their work and the design traditions that inform it.

In general, Alcantara says, the marriage of artisan groups to western marketplaces has benefited both, offering the former economic stability and appreciative audiences while providing the latter with the opportunity to purchase work that in the past would have necessitated extensive overseas travel. The devil, of course, is in the details.

Frederic and his colleague Saïd have been collaborating on artisan development for many years.

“It’s always harder to work in an eco-friendly way — because you have to care, you have to be conscious of your actions, you have to be conscious of the lifecycle of the products,” Alcantara says. “Now, we must ask ourselves: What do I need to produce? What will become of what’s left? What will become of the product itself after some time?

Alcantara says his new motto is “chemical free, biodegradable, upcycled” — labels he wants to apply to all of the products he produces in collaboration with artisan groups across Morocco and elsewhere. One example is swapping out plastic for recycled cardboard and other recycled packaging materials. Often, this means negotiating with large brands, whose priorities heretofore would have been the safety of their shipment, rather than the health of the planet.

Alcantara believes that both requirements can be met — and if not, he’s prepared to sacrifice that business. “We’ll just refuse orders with excessive demands around packing,” he says. Elsewhere, he’s encouraging his artisan partners to adjust their processes where possible. “We certainly don’t produce any products involving pollution or serious destruction to the environment — but we’re still working to finetune production processes where we can.”

Alcantara’s candle holders for Bloomist are a perfect example — instead of adding a glaze, which would have necessitated additional resources and chemicals, the product is left unglazed. “This way, we avoid the chemicals and save energy, as we only need to bake the pieces once, not twice, as we would have to with a glaze.” The revision represents not a sacrifice of style but an evolution — beautiful and austere, a credit to its maker, and a boon to its buyer.