Duty to Remember: Craft Firms as Custodians of Heritage Craft Persistence

Heritage craft firms face a difficult dilemma: how to act as custodians of fragile traditions while staying viable in a rapidly changing world. This paper explores how such firms sustain endangered crafts by treating inherited knowledge not as static history but as living, working practice. Based on a qualitative multiple-case study of two passementerie (ornamental trimmings) workshops in France and Italy and a blade-grinding firm in France, we show how continuity arises from deliberate, everyday acts of custodianship. “Tangible knowledge” includes historical machines—valued for their versatility, accessible design, and durability—as well as archives that preserve technical memory and design continuity. “Intangible knowledge” involves tacit technical expertise and artistic capabilities transmitted through long-term training and embodied practice. Together, these material and human inheritances sustain both creative renewal and historical continuity. Beyond the context of endangered heritage crafts, these insights offer practical guidance for firms in sectors such as luxury goods, haute cuisine, bespoke manufacturing, and artisanal design—where preserving distinctive capabilities and long-term know-how is essential to sustaining relevance and value.