5th26 Handcrafted Design

When talking with Brandon Tang, founder and designer of 5th26, it’s easy to get swept up in the stories of his beautifully designed and crafted goods for the home. As an avid traveler, Brandon pulls from craft traditions from around the world to create his simple, but unique line of ceramics, oil lamps, throws, and trays.

Each piece in the collection is designed with the craft in mind, like the fabulous Checker Throw, which Brandon was inspired to make after a trip to Turkey. He just loved the versatility of the traditional Turkish towels, which are used for bathing, and as blankets, scarves, wraps. With this in mind, he sought out a family of craftsmen in Turkey that had been producing these textiles on hand-looms for generations. He then worked with them to create a slight twist on the traditional textile: a modern checker print, and an over-sized dimension, to make this the perfect piece for the contemporary home.

His lovely vases also hail from Turkey, from ceramicist Hüseyin Artik. These asymmetrical vases are the perfect accent to any room, but what you may not know is that each one is crafted by hand. First, the vase is thrown in the traditional pottery wheel, but then they take the pre-fired vase and drop it on its side to create the asymmetrical shape! This is something that simply isn’t done, but nevertheless creates a wonderfully unique take on the classic vase shape.

Each of these pieces by 5th26 is so unique not just in their design, but in their beautiful stories, from a design concept hatched in New York City, to the creations hand crafted all over the world. Brandon truly is keeping these important craft traditions alive by slowing down the design process and working with people, by hand, with passion and love.