About AKIN

As with many great projects, AKIN Soft Goods started as a one-man operation in Nils’ garage. It originated from the belief that for a project to succeed it needs to be true to one’s ideals. For this reason, the most important aspect of the project is its sustainable approach, the quality craftsmanship, as well as the local production and networking.

 

Sustainability 

Adventure is what moves us but without nature there isn’t much adventure left. The planet is screaming for help while we look the other way.

Nils focussed his design studies heavily on design for sustainability and AKIN’s values have taken the same direction. All the products designs are from the ground up deeply rooted in sustainability. The life cycle of each one of them is analyzed and compared to assess the choices for the final versions.

Being a small business has its advantages and disadvantages. It allows repurposing 

of materials from other local industries in a way that could never fit a big scale manufacturing model. On the other hand, for example, custom recycled material productions require minimum order amounts that are way out of reach for us.

There are certain features that are translated into every bag in the AKIN product line. The patterning is optimized to puzzle into using the whole width of the fabric roll. (Conventional patterning is not designed to fit between the pieces to avoid waste creation, but is rather puzzled on the cutting table leaving behind lots of scraps of all sizes that can hardly be reused.) Also, experience and extensive testing has shown (to no one’s surprise) that the main failing points of the bags are the exterior fabrics and components. For that reason, most fabrics are high-denier canvases with even thread distribution (warp and weft) as that minimizes the fail rate under abrasion testing. The most abused points are reinforced with an extra layer of black fabric. Needless to say, the longer a product lasts, the more sustainable it becomes. For that same reason all the components used are sourced from known and reliable brands such as YKK zippers or ITW fasteners.

In the AKIN series, product materials that can be repurposed or retrieved from ready-made sources are preferred. The fashion industry is a fast changing industry which leaves behind loads of unused fabric rolls. Using those materials that are destined to be binned has a positive environmental impact. All the inner lining fabrics of the bags are salvaged from hot air balloon manufacturing cutouts and the stretchy fabrics and meshes are recovered deadstock from cycling apparel factories.

Last but not least, AKIN’s marketing tries to stir away from creating unnecessary needs and fooling customers into buying a bag that they don’t need. 

 

Welcome to AKIN, welcome to the family.