Stephen Burks
Stephen Burks is a New York designer and founder of studio Stephen Burks Man Made.
Burks has been labelled a design activist due to his socially-conscious design efforts with artisan groups around the world. He believes that design should be inclusive of all cultural perspectives.
He has worked both independently and with non-profit organisations as a product development consultant with artisan communities in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Stephen’s luxury and mass-market collections use handmade production as a strategy for innovation for worldwide manufacturers, including Calligaris, Calvin Klein and Moroso. His ongoing project Man Made bridges the gap between industrial manufacturing, contemporary design and authentic production from the developing world.
Burks is a recipient of many awards including the 2015 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Product Design.
