The BHcrafts Story, Told Through the Words of Lejla Radončić, CEO of BHcrafts
The story of BHcrafts began in 1995 as a humanitarian initiative to support women affected by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown into an internationally recognized fair trade enterprise. For more than three decades, BHcrafts has transformed traditional handicraft skills into opportunities for women to earn a dignified income, support their families, and preserve Bosnia’s rich cultural heritage.
From refugee settlements to international markets, BHcrafts has built its reputation on handmade quality, ethical production, and the extraordinary skills of Bosnian women artisans. Its products have reached customers around the world, including through a 23-year partnership with Sundance Catalog.
Behind every hand-knitted stitch lies a personal story of resilience, independence, and hope. For many women, working with BHcrafts has meant something as essential as buying firewood for winter, paying for their children’s transportation to school, or gaining the confidence to build a better future.
In this exclusive interview, Lejla Radončić, CEO of BHcrafts, reflects on the organization’s beginnings, the women who shaped its journey, the challenges of building a social enterprise in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and her vision for the future of fair trade craftsmanship.
How BHcrafts Began in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1. A humanitarian initiative becomes a lasting mission
In 1995, BHcrafts began as a humanitarian initiative connected to a refugee center established after the Bosnian war. What was the moment when you realized this initiative needed to become a sustainable business rather than remain a temporary humanitarian project? What made you believe it would succeed?
Being aware of the fact that humanitarian aid will stop at a certain time, as well as the fact that the women we worked with are mainly from rural areas, at a very low educational level, with little or no chance of getting employed, but a very high level of skills in various handicraft techniques. All this was a natural stepping stone to the idea of creating an income-generating project, which will enable steady income for many women and preserve traditional handicraft techniques, a very important part of BiH cultural heritage.
2. The people behind every handmade product
BHcrafts has trained and employed hundreds of women from different ethnic backgrounds. Is there a particular woman whose personal journey captures the true impact of your work? What was her life like before joining BHcrafts, and what changed for her and her family afterward?
Hundreds of women mean hundreds of different stories (Meet the Makers). Mainly former refugees, single mothers, living in refugee settlements, with no source of income, depending on humanitarian aid, with no plans for the future.
Sajma Alić from Srebrenica, a war widow with a little daughter, got settled in Doborovci, a refugee settlement built by Norwegian People’s Aid. She was different from the very beginning – joining BHcrafts knitting program was not her own source of income, she rented a piece of land and started planting cucumbers as additional income. Now she lives in Tuzla, still working with BHcrafts, while her daughter got University degree and a full-time job in Tuzla. The most inspiring story in more than 30 years of BHcrafts activities!
Recorded 2006
Feturing Sajma Alić’s
Preserving Traditional Bosnian Handicrafts
3. Preserving tradition while creating modern designs
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a rich tradition of knitting, crocheting, weaving, and textile craftsmanship. How do you decide which traditional techniques and designs to preserve, and which to adapt for international customers? How do you keep these crafts relevant to younger generations?
In 1997, when we started working in the Srpska Republic, which is an important part of BHcrafts story and fair trade journey, at the collective center in Višegrad, we’ve made the decision to start collecting patterns from traditional Bosnian slipper socks. The process resulted in 7 different patterns, used by all ethnic groups of people living in BiH. Nowadays, those patterns are incorporated into modern and exquisite hats, gloves, scarves, and other accessory items, appreciated by both younger and older customers.
Slipper socks in these patterns were sold through National Geographic and Sundance catalogues, and still are one of the best-selling BHcrafts products.
4. The name behind every creation
BHcrafts products carry the name of the woman who made them. Why was it important to make the artisan visible to the customer? Have you received a customer message or witnessed an interaction that showed you how much this personal connection matters?
Every name is written with pride and a lot of respect to skilled women, master knitters and crocheters, who decided to put their trust in BHcrafts, joining the community of a couple hundred women from the entire country.
There were a lot of “thank you” messages from customers all over the world, and each and every one got passed to the woman whose name was on the tag.
From Bosnia to the International Market
5. From Bosnia and Herzegovina to international markets
BHcrafts has worked with international names (partners and buyers), including Sundance Catalog and National Geographic. What was your first major international breakthrough, and what did it take to convince buyers that handmade products from Bosnia and Herzegovina belonged in competitive global markets? Which partnership taught you the most?
Sundance Catalog was, and still is, the best buyer ever!
People there are easy to communicate with, POs are issued on time, followed by accurate payments, with no special claims, misunderstandings, or delays. In our over 20-year-long cooperation, we haven’t had any complaints, but only nice words from both Sundance staff members and their customers.
Edition!
How did we get there? Thanks to Peggy Barry, our angel guardian, whose every conversation starts with “Have you heard about BHcrafts, a small but perspective project from Bosnia?”
Thank you, Peggy!
Fair Trade, Sustainability and Business Challenges
6. What fair trade means in everyday business and BHcrafts fair trade journey
BHcrafts has held WFTO Guaranteed Fair Trade status since 2009. What does this commitment require from you in everyday decisions about pricing, production, working conditions, and customer orders? Have you ever turned down a profitable opportunity because it conflicted with your principles?
The concept of the BHcrafts project fits into fair trade principles from its very first day and is the most important part of our story. Main purpose of this project is creating opportunity and engaging women from BH society margins, not only upgrading their skills in handicrafts techniques, but also enabling steady income for them, which result with better confidence, and self-respect, making them feeling as valuable society members.
Until now, we haven’t had situations where our customers showed any intentions of breaking WFTO rules in any aspect.
7. Sustainability beyond the label
Your website highlights natural fibers, domestic materials where possible, recycled packaging, and low-waste production. Which sustainable practices have made the biggest practical difference to your work? Where do you still face difficulties, especially when balancing environmental responsibility with the costs of exporting handmade goods?
Purchase of locally produced yarn (both wool and cotton) becomes real “mission impossible”! Bad privatization and a long and hard transition period after the war resulted in closing down almost all yarn factories in BiH, so we buy the yarn locally, but it’s imported either from Turkey or from Serbia.
Our intention is to be a “zero waste” company, so a lot of activities are already undertaken; the others are planned for the very near future.
Natural fibers, recyclable packaging, no polluting production process are kind of guarantee that the goal will get reached soon. New EU policies regarding packaging materials, the “digital passport” for all products, are in line with our plans, which will help us to reach the goal soon.
8. The difficult side of running a social enterprise
Running a business with a social mission brings pressures beyond those faced by many conventional companies. What has been the most difficult period in BHcrafts’ history and story, and what decisions helped you get through it? What do customers and business partners rarely understand about the real cost of handmade production?
How hard it could be in a country with no law on social entrepreneurship, no sensibility for socially oriented companies, but only with enormous greed for higher taxes, for better filling of the budget, which serves for their outrage salaries, luxury vehicles and other benefits all officials in this country get for free, since they do nothing useful for BH population.
How hard it could be in a country where corruption is, literally, blossoming, hard, or no, access to subventions, or grant funds, with NO sensitivity for initiatives like BHcrafts is.
Why Handmade Products Still Matter
9. Why handmade is still the main part of the BHcrafts story
In a world filled with inexpensive, mass-produced products, BHcrafts asks customers to value craftsmanship, quality, and the person behind each item. What would you say to a customer who loves your products but hesitates because handmade goods cost more? How do you explain the difference in value without relying on price comparisons alone?
Handmade means indigenous, patience, knowledge, skills, tradition, and lots of love. The result is a unique product made by hand, with lots of love, which is recognized and appreciated by conscious customers, who understand the time and energy interwoven into every stitch of one product.
All said above is a good argument for the price difference between industrial and handmade items.
Magic of felting
Watch BHcrafts
Women Artisans at Work
10. Passing skills to the next generation
BHcrafts combines employment opportunities with training and the preservation of traditional skills. Are younger women showing interest in learning these crafts? What would it take to make traditional handicraft a respected, financially viable career for young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Promotion and preservation of BiH tradition is an important part of Bosnian tradition, and BHcrafts contributes to it in the best possible manner within our capabilities.
Transferring traditional handicrafts techniques into a valuable skill opportunity sufficient for paid work and generated income. Organized trainings and other gatherings are a great opportunity for the transfer of knowledge from experienced beneficiaries to less skilled ones, as well as a chance for the recruitment of new, young women willing to join BHcrafts community and become part of our future story.
The Future and Legacy of BHcrafts
11. The next chapter for BHcrafts story
Looking ahead, what are your three most important priorities for BHcrafts over the next five years? How do you plan to reach more women, develop new products, and expand international sales while protecting the quality and social values behind the brand? What measurable change would make you proudest?
This project is very traditional and very modern, at the same time. We’re using all available “tools” to spread the word about this indigenous project to both new beneficiaries and customers.
BHcrafts started 2 online shops (local and international www.bhcrafts.shop) a while ago, we created profiles on all social media channels, and our payment methods are up-to-date (bank transfers, credit cards, PayPal, etc.)
Selling internationally for 29 years, with not a single complaint from our buyers, is the fact we are the most proud of!
12. The legacy you want to leave
Imagine someone writes the story of BHcrafts 20 years from now. Beyond sales figures, awards, and international partnerships, what do you want that person to say about the difference BHcrafts made in the lives of women, their families, and the wider community? What would success look like to you personally?
The fact that working with BHcrafts enabled the purchase of firewood, bus tickets for kids to go to school, jackets, boots, and other things like “bread and butter” for everyday living makes us very proud.
This brand is the best Ambassador for BiH, communicating the message that living, and working, together despite of ethnical difference is possible, that Bosnian women are able to earn money for living, ready to gather new knowledges, learning things they haven’t heard of in the past.