About Us

Erin grew up in Maine, in a community defined by hard work and handmade things. Raised in the orbit of her family’s bustling diner and her mother’s craft practice, she developed a worldview shaped by the click-clack of rattan and the values of lineage and labor.

She witnessed the golden era of Maine craftsmanship—where her mother wove for L.L.Bean and taught workshops in their basement—and the eventual shift toward the speed and convenience of the digital age. Today, Erin bridges that gap. Through her writing and her work at Underwater Weaving Studio, she explores the tension between "progress" and preservation, reviving the slow, tactile traditions of her childhood for a modern world.

Underwater Weaving Studio takes its title from the literal process of soaking material to make it supple, but also from the cultural punchline used to dismiss domestic labor and vocational learning. We embrace the phrase to turn a joke into a statement: that softness, slowness, and beauty are sources of immense power. Every basket shaped here is a vessel of intention. The work is a dialogue between the past and the present, drawing on Maine’s rich Wabanaki and Shaker legacies while filtering them through a modern lens shaped by fashion publishing, dance, and design. These influences coalesce into forms that are grounded yet lyrical—objects that are as helpful as they are poetic.

This is where time-honored technique and modern vision collide. A mother’s profound knowledge of material and form provides the soul of each piece. The daughter’s influence introduces a refined, contemporary aesthetic, infusing every basket with modern relevance and sophisticated style. The result is not simply a basket, but a singularly crafted object, the most exceptional offering of its kind in America.

Underwater Weaving Studio doesn’t just exist in the basket revival—it’s pushing its edges. With partnerships spanning small farms to fashion houses and installations that blur the line between art and utility, the studio quietly leads a cultural movement that honors the handmade, the inherited, and the overlooked.

Underwater Weaving Baskets and kits are available at Moda Operandi, Over The Moon, The Expert, Slow Roads, The Post Supply, Vestige, The Primary Essentials, The Citizenry, and more select independent shops nationwide.