Native Trails Brings Together International Artisan Traditions And Contemporary Design

Combining her passions for artisan tradition, fair trade practices and sustainability, Naomi Neilson Howard established Native Trails, a successful international business that combines contemporary design with the age-old art forms from central Mexico.

Naomi first introduced copper as a core material for kitchens and baths with Native Trails' copper basins. Naomi went on to use repurposed barn wood, reclaimed wine staves, bamboo, recycled copper and most recently created NativeStone, a material unique to Native Trails.

The company, which was founded in 1996 in California, eventually expanded throughout North America. Today, Native Trails’ products can be found in over 1,300 showrooms throughout the US, Canada and beyond. The company has received several awards for its innovation and designs and has been featured on DIY, HGTV and ABC’s series Nashville. We caught up with her at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show where her designs made quite a splash.

What inspired you to start Native Trails?

Naomi Neilson Howard: As a child I frequently traveled to Mexico with my family, both to visit relatives and to vacation. My favorite parts of our trips were always visiting the village marketplaces, where I fell in love with all the unique folk art and crafts. I started to dream about how the artisan’s lives might change if their goods were available to a larger market where they would be better appreciated. During my college years, I decided to spend a year studying abroad in Spain to refine my Spanish language skills, and while there I made several trips south to Morocco. I spent time in Morocco’s artisan villages and I was awed by the impact there too of the rich cultural traditions on the crafts of the people. Between Morocco and Mexico, my journey began in earnest, including extensive travels throughout Central Mexico in particular. I became determined to search out the remote villages where artisans practiced age-old craft traditions, and to find promising artisans of each craft. I was determined to make a difference in their lives and began to realize that if they were open to some design and operational guidance, our partnerships could provide a reliable revenue stream for local micro-economies and bring this amazing artisan handiwork into homes north of the border.

I have always had a passion for design and creating beautiful things, but I really found my calling during my early travels to Mexico and Morocco. Discovering the folk art traditions of the people native to various regions in those countries was and still is inspiring. Realizing the potential to change the lives of those people by adapting their traditional techniques to contemporary, functional design is what drives me every day. I have always been highly involved in the design of every product we create at Native Trails.

TH: How did you become interested in home furnishings?

NNH: The goal of transforming traditional folk art into functional items for everyday use in our society inevitably led me to home décor and furnishings. The materials and techniques used by our artisans translate so beautifully to the home, and truly they can transform a space by adding warmth, history and that increasingly elusive human connection.

TH: How do you work with the designers and craftspeople you use?

NNH: Our design process is necessarily adaptable, as it is somewhat unique to each product. All of our products are made by true artisans. Some workshops are in small villages in Mexico, Vietnam or China, and many are here in California. Generally, however, we share our design concept with the artisan who we believe can implement it, then we work with them on ensuring that the design and the artisan process are a good fit. We spend countless hours getting everything right. That may include making adjustments to the process or the design itself, or working with the artisan to expand their repertoire of tools or techniques. Once the prototype is approved, quality parameters are established—and let me stress that this is not an easy task with handmade products. I think this is one area where we differentiate ourselves. Here’s the hitch: The inherent inconsistencies that make a handmade product truly unique are absolutely desirable, yet it is also essential that the variance in texture, finish and dimensions is minimal enough that people can order our products from a picture or sample and feel confident that it will work in their design. In other words, the creative, artisan element is the soul of our products, and at the same time they must conform to certain parameters. We accept the challenge of ensuring that our artisans are on the same page with us.

TH: The Native Trails’ copper furnishings are absolutely stunning, What spurred your interest in working with this material?

NNH: Copper is an ancient material, and coppersmithing in central Mexico has a long history, dating back to pre-colonial times. After generations upon generations of copper metalsmiths, it has become a part of the culture and traditions—I’d say it’s in their blood. The seemingly innate ability of these artisans to form works of art out of molten copper is just incredible. I knew we had a future together when I realized that recycled copper could be used, resulting in less stress on the environment. When I enlisted the copper artisans to create the first copper sink prototypes, it became clear that this was an exciting new way to use a wonderful reclaimed metal and to blend ancient techniques with contemporary design.

TH: What’s the process that goes into handcrafting a Native Trails copper sink?

NNH: Each sink is hand hammered by artisans who use 100 percent recycled copper. As with all of our copper items, the process starts with electrical wire and pipes, which is collected and then melted down into an ingot and then pressed to form sheets. Then the warm-toned metal is heated and softened over an open forge and hammered by hand with thousands of strokes over an anvil to form it into the desired shape. Much of the process dates back centuries, while other parts of the process evolve as new techniques are discovered and learned. In the same way, our designs keep evolving as we keep pushing the limits of our artisans’ abilities while developing new products for the home. Our Pinnacle and Farmhouse 30 represent our newest apron front copper kitchen sinks.

TH: What other materials does Native Trails work with?

NNH: We just recently debuted our new NativeStone™ collection of concrete sinks that are constructed using a mixture of jute fiber and cement, making them 40 percent lighter than traditional concrete. NativeStone™ is also incredibly stain and scratch resistant, and the collection has been a bit hit. It’s modern yet earthy and quite versatile, including sinks for the bath, bar and kitchen in three finishes.

Two of our vanity collections are built by local California craftspeople. The Americana Collection is constructed using repurposed wood derived from structures of the past—old barns, barracks and fencing, and the Vintner’s Collection uses reclaimed wine staves and barrels from local wineries that have outlived their useful life in wine making. We give this high quality wood a second life, diverting it from landfills and eliminating the need to utilize standard milled lumber.

Our Renewal Series of vanities and mirrors is made using 100% FSC-certified Moso Bamboo, one of the fastest growing and most durable species of bamboo, with plants reaching full maturity in five to seven years. Yes, quite a renewable resource!

TH: What are Native Trails’ commitments to environmental sustainability?

NNH: I founded Native Trails with the goal of supporting artisan communities and having a beneficial effect on the environment. We have a philosophy at Native Trails that we call EcoSocial Positive, meaning that we strive to go beyond “sustainable” and actually have a positive impact upon people and the environment. We continuously review our processes, materials and sources, and make changes whenever we can to be more sustainable.

Native Trails maintains a socially and environmentally responsible culture by using natural and sustainable materials as the basis for all of our products including recycled copper, reclaimed wood, FSC certified bamboo and our new eco-friendly proprietary material, NativeStone™. Native Trails’ sustainably made products also earn points toward the LEED certification program, a recognized standard for measuring building sustainability in the United States and countries around the world.

TH: Do you design entire kitchens and bathrooms?

NNH: We do not. We design many key elements for the kitchen and bath, including sinks, tubs and vanities for the bath as well as farmhouse and traditional sinks and range hoods for the kitchen. Our products are often specified by kitchen and bath designers, as well as architects and builders.

TH: Do you have any tips on how homeowners can work these pieces into their kitchens?

NNH: The beauty of our products is that we have something for every aesthetic. Our recycled copper and NativeStone™ products offer a warm addition to any kitchen design and our range of finishes can fit in contemporary, modern or traditional designs. It’s always fun to incorporate Native Trails products into a new design, where other elements can be designed around it, but the addition of even one artisan sink into an otherwise more mainstream kitchen can have a tremendous impact.

TH: Do you have a favorite piece from the Native Trails collection?

NNH: Oh, that is so difficult, as I’m so intimately connected with every piece that we make, but right now, I’m really excited about our NativeStone™ Farmhouse 3018 kitchen sink. I love the impact of an apron front sink and how this one shows off the silky smooth texture and warm, contemporary feel of NativeStone™. This new material is truly innovative and there is really nothing like it being done. You would also never guess that eco-friendly jute fiber reinforces the cement and fills up space in the sink walls, making it lighter in weight, yet incredibly strong. And the response to this sink has been fantastic, which is even more exciting.