HISTORY

The story of hukkepack began with the school enrollment of our son in 2015. When we bought a commercial schoolbag – made of plastic and quite colourful – we questioned the purchase afterwards. That’s why we started researching.

We are Antje and Robert – in their early thirties and pleased with things that impress with simplicity, but also with design and functionality. We like natural raw materials, good workmanship and the possibility of re-use things. Inspired by our research, our then 3 ½-year-old daughter decided: “When I come to school, I want to have a yellow schoolbag made of leather!” In the following three years her opinion did not change. However, there was no contemporary, everyday life-suitable leather schoolbag to be found, which suited our ideas.

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Almost a year before our daughter started school, we met a young saddler. Our preschool girl simply asked her, “Can you make me a yellow leather schoolbag?”. That’s why we started thinking about the appearance and characteristics of the satchel and the saddler-master implemented our ideas with her know-how. Our daughter was overjoyed and just looked adorable on the day of schooling – in a red dress with white dots and a yellow leather schoolbag.

We will never forget the ceremony, where 51 commercial satchels lined up in front of their little owners and in the middle was a plain yellow leather schoolbag. The reactions followed immediately: “Where did you get that from?”, “I used to have a leather schoolbag when I was young!”, Are you selling them? “We were overwhelmed by the response and interest. Above all, we were and are convinced that there is a lot of good in it: A daily worn satchel made of vegetable-tanned leather, natural rubber and cotton canvas – natural materials that last a lifetime. More children should enjoy this and also contribute to minimize the growing of garbage mountains outside the gates of the city. This is how the idea arose, which subsequently became the company “hukkepack”.

The first model – our rough diamond – has been thoroughly revised over an infinite number of working hours in terms of materials and production steps, weight reduction, improved wearing comfort and much more. Finally in February 2019 our first collection was finished. At the end of March, the homepage and shop went online. A big milestone!

At this point, however, we were far from finished. Our vision is still to create even more sustainable and environmentally friendly products. This is how we came across industrial hemp. The hemp plant needs neither fertilizer nor pesticides. Its fibers are free of chemicals and toxins and are therefore completely biodegradable. The perfect material for our accessories.

Afterwards we dealt with the many requests for a “real” backpack. Again over a year has passed – from the first sketch to several prototypes to our COMPANION. We are very proud to have brought it onto the market in June 2021 and look forward to our further path, which it will accompany us on.

LEATHER

We combine our constant desire to travel with finding new ideas and inspirations. We live preferably simple and in the neighborhood of the local people. We talk, discover and research. Thus, we have developed a sense of good, quality and usable materials. This has become a fundamental part of our working and life philosophy over time.

For our hukkepack schoolbags and backpacks we use high-quality, vegetable-tanned cowhide leather from selected tanneries, which is processed by the manufacturer Thielemann Lederwaren with high quality standards. Both, leather tanneries and manufactory, have decades of experience in using high quality and natural materials.

The leather for our hukkepack products is vegetable tanned. Only plant-based tanning agents such as leaves, wood, bark, fruit and roots are used for this tanning process.

No chemicals are used when our leather is tanned. Therefore, it may be that the leather of your hukkepack is a bit stiff at the beginning. That disappears after a short time. The leather becomes more flexible and pleasantly soft.

Leather is versatile, distinctive and lively. It is a natural product – unique and by no means perfect. That’s why we love it. Our hukkepack schoolbags and companions are made of the upper part of leather. Skin folds, scars and insect bites are partly visible and testify that the hukkepack backpacks are a genuine natural product. And the leather lives on. The leather of a hukkepack receives new traces by sun, rain and the daily use. That tells of the life of the owners. Own marks make A hukkepack to YOUR hukkepack.

YOUR HUKKEPACK IS CONVERTIBLE AND CHANGES WITH YOU

hukkepack leather bags are alive. They collect marks, carry traces and remember the weather. You spend a lot of time together and share great experiences. As you change, your hukkepack changes with you. For example, when it is time to swap the jacket at the season change.

Simply release the lock, move the knob and fasten again. Go on!