Based by brothers, Niklas and Mattis Oppermann, Carl Friedrik is thought for its luxurious journey items — there’s slick and sturdy baggage, cool backpacks and different useful equipment, cue passport covers, watch instances, and extra. Crafted utilizing high-quality supplies (from light-weight polycarbonate for the onerous baggage to Italian Vachetta leather-based for the weekend luggage), items are made to a thought of design, tailor-made for all of those that are on the go, making the gathering as fashionable as it’s sensible. Having simply launched the brand new Rover line, Niklas tells us extra about how the corporate took place along with his brother, the important thing pillars of their enterprise, and the way they’d like Carl Friedrik to evolve.
How did the enterprise come about?
The inception story is kind of conventional within the sense that we primarily noticed a spot out there. It was my brother and co-founder Mattis’ birthday and I wished to reward him a high-quality leather-based laptop computer case. I used to be searching for one thing that mixed conventional craftsmanship with an understated look, and in addition supplied good worth for cash.
Evidently, I simply couldn’t discover the correct piece. With my expertise in enterprise and Mattis’ background in product design, we felt we had the correct qualities to provide one thing higher. Carl Friedrik [formerly Oppermann London] was born shortly after.
What are the model pillars?
We’ve 4 model pillars:
- Clever Design is about creating merchandise which might be practical and a pleasure to make use of, which helps our prospects to stay smarter.
- High quality & Craftsmanship captures our dedication to tremendous supplies and workmanship. This results in equipment that may stand up to the calls for of recent dwelling and really final a lifetime.
- Instilling Confidence displays our perception that for patrons to attain their finest, they should consider in and be ok with themselves. Carl Friedrik conjures up confidence by means of understated, premium merchandise that prospects are proud to personal. This ethos of confidence extends past merchandise to each our service and model identification.
- Luxurious reimagined captures our distinctive tackle the best way to function within the luxurious items sphere. We consider the trade is essentially out of sync with the values of in the present day’s shoppers. We higher serve prospects by providing trial packages and a lifetime guarantee, rejecting seasonal vogue, selling supply-chain transparency, and utilizing sustainable supplies.
The model is celebrating 10 years, how are you marking it?
To mark the event, we’re launching our first assortment of sentimental luggage. It represents a brand new artistic route for Carl Friedrik. The premium nubuck leather-based we’re working with makes for tender and unstructured silhouettes that distinction with our best-selling Palissy assortment, which celebrates rigidity and sleekness.
The upcoming vary has a barely extra relaxed really feel to it, but the velvety nubuck continues to be very luxurious. With two backpacks, a garment weekend bag, a gymnasium bag, and a tote, there’s a bag for each sort of recent traveler, from digital nomads to upmarket jet setters.
Inform us concerning the manufacturing course of.
Usually the manufacturing course of begins with prospects. We get a number of nice suggestions from our group on what we should always launch subsequent.
We start by drafting preliminary sketches and designs which might be despatched to the manufacturing unit for sampling. We undergo a number of iterations till we’re totally pleased with the look and use.
We simulate a lifetime of product use in our testing course of. For baggage, there are particular machines to simulate the merchandise being on the bags band, rolling over cobblestone, smashing in opposition to pavements and we additionally freeze the product to simulate the chilly temperatures within the plane maintain. Then there are drop checks on wheels and corners, in addition to sturdiness checks on the trolley system. As we provide a lifetime assure on all merchandise, we have to guarantee they’re match for a lifetime’s price of use earlier than releasing them to the market.
For leather-based items, we do checks on leather-based sturdiness, deal with strengths, zipper strengths, and so forth. But additionally, all the way down to the smaller particulars comparable to checking the thickness of the plating of our {hardware} all the way down to specified microns.
Our signature Vachetta leather-based comes from a long-standing companion tannery in Tuscany, Artigiano del Cuoio. The leather-based is produced utilizing the traditional strategy of vegetable tanning. This methodology makes use of pure vegetable tannins — present in tree bark, leaves, and roots — to show animal hides into leather-based. Grasp artisans spend a lifetime perfecting their tannin blends, drawing on information handed down by means of generations. The result’s luxurious, long-lasting, and biodegradable leather-based.
The manufacturing course of doesn’t cease once we launch a brand new product. We consider in Kaizen (‘steady enchancment’), continually making changes primarily based on buyer suggestions. If one thing breaks, we not solely repair it for the client but additionally incorporate a repair within the subsequent iteration. For instance, whereas our suitcase might look much like once we first launched, we have now modified nearly each single side (used totally different shell supplies, inner elements, structure, handles, and so forth.).
What’s the Creator’s Membership, and the way did it materialize?
The Creator’s Membership is a singular buyer initiative that took place as a result of we wished to contain our group even additional within the product improvement course of. It’s primarily a beta program for luxurious, bodily merchandise.
Clients had been invited to check unique prototypes from the forthcoming assortment. Their suggestions will then be used to refine the ultimate designs. We requested for insights on all the pieces from the aesthetic and performance of the merchandise to the sturdiness and high quality of supplies used.
To thank prospects for his or her involvement, we supplied a choice of advantages, comparable to a lifetime low cost on all merchandise within the closing assortment and the prospect to go ‘behind the scenes with our co-founder and designer.
The underlying thought is to problem normal trade follow by releasing a customer-led assortment of luxurious merchandise.
What are the long-term objectives for the model?
Our objective for the long run is to be the definitive alternative for professionals searching for a contemporary journey model with conventional high quality.
The subsequent few years will see us considerably develop our product providing. The plan is to diversify our vary of equipment in order that we are able to fulfill the calls for of pros in additional areas of their lives.
Despite world developments, baggage has turn into an more and more necessary product class for us in latest instances. Baggage gross sales had been up 69% in 2021 and the present forecast for 2022 is for this to be eclipsed. So, we plan to actually dwelling in on journey items for the foreseeable future.
We’re additionally conscious about the socio-environmental points going through the planet. We intention to be a model on the forefront of sustainability and materials improvement. In that regard, we’re creating a line of sustainable vegan leather-based equipment. This may enable us to fulfill the quickly rising demand for high-quality vegan leather-based items.
