Deutsche Version

Greetings to you all, it’s been a little quiet on the newsletter front because of all the real life stuff happening behind the scenes. I just wanted to give you an update on where everything’s at.

Prototype testing

First of all thanks a lot again to all of you who participate in this testing phase. 15 bags are out and in use. I received a lot of interesting and overwhelmingly positive feedback. Mainly I worked on the Undercover Saccoche and The Cozy One in S & M until now.

The following weeks I’ll be focussing on The Cozy One L and after that The Boat Weekender. So I’ll get in touch with you soon if you ordered one of those.

It’s gonna be different from now on

The prototyping phase unlocked something in me. I didn’t expect how much I love the whole process of making these bags. Improving quality, being precise, finding neat solutions, evolving the pattern and the usecase.

And what I love even more is handing over a finished work to someone. The response, the feedback, the human connection. It’s actually quite humbling.

Just thinking about outsourcing this main chunk of the process breaks my heart.

It‘s funny how things evolve. I remember the first months of building my own business, when I read every book on how to build it “the right way”. But in my case it’s actually quite simple:

I make bags. Dressing it up is where the lying begins.

I make everything myself. From the first sketch to handing a finished item to someone who cares. No intermediaries. No outsourcing. No shortcuts.

Only this way I can answer the question I asked in my brand manifesto last year: Why do some things stay with us, while others fade and get replaced?

Every step is a place where I can fail and grow. Hand that off and you don’t just lose control, you simply lose the education.

The process is the product. Geist is time spent making, at the speed care requires. How else can you make others care?

That’s the reason why I changed the name of the newsletter to „a message in the lining“, the old one is no fit anymore.

Branding project in progress

The moment I figured that all out something clicked inside my head and I felt ready to contact agencies to get serious about branding.

Over the past year I researched a handful of agencies worldwide that felt like fit. In the end I decided to partner with UFFICIO, a studio from Buenos Aires.

From the start I felt right at home with the team. Two weeks ago we started the project and I’m super exited about what we’re cooking.

My workshop is ready for guests

Last year I repurposed my guest room to be my workshop. So I had to find a solution to put a bed back in there. I modeled this gallery/loft bed in the 3D tool Sketch Up on my iPad.

Then I hired a carpenter and a locksmith to have the parts custom made and painted. When they delivered them I crossed fingers that everything fits and hoped that it would just be another IKEA build up job for me.

With only minor difficulties it all came together pretty nicely. First night sleeping up there was still weird though, because I kept on recalculating everything in my head and eventhough I know this thing should withstand a hurricane I cannot help but worrying. I guess that’s normal when you do something like that for the first time.

Deutsche Version

It’s probably a bit late for New Year’s wishes, but still I want to send some love to all of you.

For the last months I’ve been locked inside my new-but-yet-to-be-finished workshop:

In here I’ve been obsessing over my first collection of bags. Iterating, scrapping, worrying, learning, rewinding. But before I cast Confundo on myself I need your help.

Over the next 5 months I‘m looking for volunteers who want test my prototypes in the real world.

In total there are 5 models which I’m going to introduce in detail below.

Choose one and write me a message if you’re interested.

I can’t always take color requests into account, as some materials are no longer in use, others haven’t been shown yet, and I need to test a lot of combinations. Still feel free to share what you like or don’t like — the bags will use as close to 100% natural materials as currently possible from my side.

At the moment all the bags are handmade so there‘s a limited amount of bags I can produce over the coming months. So first come first serve. The bags might change a lot from what you see in the pictures. It’s still a playground and ideas can hit anytime. But every iteration will incorporate your feedback and in general quality should get better and better… fingers crossed.

The Bags

There are three types to choose from:

1. The Undercover Sacoche

2. The Cozy One Shoulder Bag

3. The Boat Weekender Bag

The Cozy One exists in three sizes: Small, Medium & Large. The three sizes are designed for different use cases. I might end up adding sizes to the weekender as well.

The Undercover Sacoche

A flat, low-profile bag for your essentials — keys, phone, wallet. Subtle enough to disappear under a jacket, simple enough to use with one hand. It opens like a fan and closes with a single pull on the cord.

I published a deep dive into the design development of this bag back in summer, in case you’re interested:

The Cosy One Shoulder Bag

A crossbody bag with a wide array of compartments, a generous opening, and three sizes. Designed to carry everything you need for commuting and exploring. And most importantly: so cozy you won’t want to put it down.

Size L

Big enough to house a 13 inch laptop. No extra sleeve needed.

Size M

Room for everything you need to roam around. Umbrella, bottle, camera, headphones, book, you name it. There’s even a dedicated spot for glasses.

Size S

Had to try the cozy-one-concept for a classic fanny bag. So nice to house every essential—like phone, small notebook, keys and earphones—in a dedicated compartment.

The Boat Weekender Bag

The lower shell — the “boat” — protects the material from unnecessary wear. The space in between offers room for shoes or quick access to your phone. The collar not only makes the zipper easier to use, but also hides a secret pocket.

Found your favourite? Or want to try something you haven’t used before, just write me. You can just answer this e-mail, DM me on Substack, Insta or even give me a call.

Even if you don’t give an f*** but know someone who might, send them the link to this post.

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Hope you have a healthy and happy 2026.

Deutsche Version

• Intro

• First Things First - Did I achieve my „Next Steps“ from the last recap?

• Good Old Swetlana From Next Door - An Advanced Sewing Course

• Future Fabrics Expo Aftermath

• All Things Businessplan

  • Startup Grant

  • Legal Form

  • Financial Planning

  • My Offering

  • The Competition

  • Risks and Measures

• A Detour To Zurich

• Being At Ease

Intro

It’s raining in Heidelberg. So I guess I‘m gonna stay here in the hotel lobby for the morning writing this newsletter. The atrium I‘m sitting in is the new part of the hotel building that used to be a brewery back in the days.

It‘s a strange but funny feeling sitting in this fancy business hotel lobby even though I begin my official unemployment phase 1st of September. Yes, eight months just raced past and my time at the transfer company comes to an end.

Seems like the perfect time to do another recap of my journey to self-employment.

So First Things First

In my last recap, „Starting Over My Professional Life - Three Months In…“ I set out to work on these next steps:

1. Pushing the branding forward

2. Do something along the lines of an advanced sewing course

3. Design and settle on the first three products

4. Researching suppliers and manufacturers

Let’s start with #2. My default approach to sewing up until now was learning by doing, but I always wanted to get some insight into professional experience you cannot catch up running blindly around the map. I needed a guided tour. Not necessarily to cut corners, more to see how vast the map is.

Good Old Swetlana From Next Door

Next to my parents house lives a russian couple we never had much contact with. The usual neighborhood relationship I imagine. After 20 years of greet and hide, my mom talked to her in length and it turned out that she’s a professional seamstress with over 40 years of experience. She worked as a tailor, pattern engineer, designer and even running a sewing school. A total workaholic who had to learn about self-care the hard way.

So I got in contact with her, sent some pictures of what I’ve produced so far and formulated specific questions where I need help. A week later I packed my stuff and drove up to Hamburg to meet her over at my parents house.

First of all it was a relief to hear that my sewing is pretty good already. She encouraged me that my stumbling-along-and-make-things-up-approach is the right way to go; the secret sauce even. It’s crucial to find your own solutions, to use your brain and don‘t blindly follow instructions.

At our session she unloaded an Ikea bag full of samples, bags and other items, and we spend the whole day talking about details, approaches, and especially about classic tailoring techniques you find in suits which have the quality and neat appearance I‘m looking for. My mother had to force us to come downstairs for coffee and cake.

Again, what a coincidence! This connection to Swetlana just appeared out of nowhere. Things just fall into place, and when you think about it, it totally makes sense. Like when a former colleague introduced me to a bag accessory brand from Potsdam, and through their Newsletter I learned about the Future Fabrics Expo in London. Probably the most important thing I did this year.

Which brings me to #4. I’d like to reframe “Researching suppliers and manufacturers” to just building a business network.

Future Fabrics Expo Aftermath

I wrote an extensive recap newsletter of the fair already, so if you‘re interested in a deep dive, go here.

But since then things developed that pushes my endeavor in a more defined direction.

Anyway, first and foremost I ordered a massive amount of fabric samples and established direct connections to the suppliers and manufacturers.

Small selection of my favourites so far…

And who would have thought that my newsletter turns out to be of huge help. Every time I reached out to the companies I added a link to my Substack. And many of them could relate to how I‘m doing things, what I’m trying to achieve with Geist, and were eager to collaborate.

The other big connection I made was the one with VORN, the Berlin Fashion Hub. I visited their premises in the BIKINI mall and talked with the Co-CEO in depth about the possibilities of collaboration and being part of the community.

VORN unites motivated people who want to change how things are done in a highly waste- and harmful industry. I think of VORN as a harbor for people like me—critical of the industry, but eager to take action and build businesses on new ideas, rather than just protest and dream.

Personally, being part of their cooperative means access to a strong network. Instead of standing alone, we negotiate with manufacturers as a group, building trust and signal deal-making power. Then there’s the opportunity to officially found my company under their Berlin umbrella—instead of Potsdam’s less favorable financial setup. This also means to test ideas directly in the community and with visitors at the BIKINI mall—whether through pop-ups, events, or showroom presentations.

At the same time, I bring in my own background from the Volkswagen Design Studio in Potsdam: Design, generative modelling, storytelling, and especially the problem-solving oriented processes that made us unique. All of that along with a professional network that could share valuable expertise with other members.

With VORN collaboration runs through everything: Coworking, shared sourcing, storytelling, crowdfunding, logistics and storage, and programs designed to foster innovation and scaling.

The idea that the future of business could look less like rigid companies and more like flexible communities really stuck with me.

All Things Businessplan

#1 'Pushing the branding' & #3 'Settle on the first three designs' come together under this umbrella. I aim to found Geist beginning of next year. So I spend a lot of time talking to business advisors and planning out the steps that need to be done.

I published an introduction to Geist end of March, just a week after I published the last recap. It was the first attempt to capture the essence of the brand, and I shared the first ideas for my logo.

Distilling all of that—and what I learned and designed in the past months—into the boundaries of a businessplan was the next big hurdle to overcome. It’s the first time I’ve put all the ideas, values, numbers, and risks into one coherent document, and it gave me a clearer picture of where I stand.

Doing that has a very practical reason too: you need it to be eligible for the start-up grant (‘Gründungszuschuss’) from the German Federal Employment Agency.

Start-Up Grant

It‘s been quite confusing what that actually means. How much money do I get, and especially when?

The moment you found—which in my case will be January—I would get another six months of unemployment benefits. But the Employment Agency doesn‘t cover health insurance and social security anymore; makes sense because technically I‘m not unemployed anymore. So they add 300 bucks to the benefits to help you cover a bit of that.

So my rough time planning looks as following:

Legal form

This led me to the next question, what legal form is the right one for my business. It‘s a tricky question, and a bit more complex than you might think. I‘ll try to brake it down as simple as possible:

For a solo founder there are two ways to found in Germany: As a corporation (Kapitalgesellschaft) or sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmen).

There are three main differences:

1. Taxes: As a sole proprietor you pay your taxes through income taxes (Einkommenssteuer). As a corporation you pay corporation tax (Körperschaftssteuer), trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) and VAT (Umsatzsteuer). Calculated together the percentage of these three taxes is lower than your normal income tax, and therefore you pay less taxes as a corporation. But, and this is the clue, as a sole proprietor you don‘t have to pay income taxes on your first 24.500 Eur profit per year. So calculations say that if you‘re below roughly 30.000 EUR profit there‘s a tax advantage as a solo proprietor, above there‘s an advantage to be a corporation.

2. Founding a corporation is more complex and expensive as starting as a sole proprietorship, where you only have to register a business (Gewerbeanmeldung). A corporation needs articles of association (Gesellschaftsvertrag/Satzung) and therefor a notary who also handles the commercial registration (Handelsregister). You need capital, 25.000 Eur as a GmbH, or 1 Eur as an UG, and the registration of your business (Gewerbeanmeldung) as well. Money-wise—if we exclude the capital needed—the process cost around 30 Eur for a sole proprietorship and around 800 Eur for a corporation.

3. Liability: As a sole proprietorship you are liable with your private assets, as a corporation only your company assets are liable, because a corporation is it‘s own legal entity.

There‘re more differences like „professional visibility“ as corporation, which could result in easier negotiations with business partners, but it‘s crystal ball gazing to plan on these things.

Obviously there‘s always the possibility to change a sole proprietorship to a corporation later on, but many sources say that the process is quite complicated. It‘s not just update the registration, basically you have to found a new company and transfer all the old assets, contracts etc. over to the new one. Legally that‘s a lot.

As for now I decided to be a corporation from the beginning. I‘ll still talk to some people at VORN about it because that‘s their daily bread and butter. Important will be to not spoil the start-up grant. If you start a GmbH with 25.000 of capital on your account you might not get it. So starting as an UG would be my choice.

As an UG you‘re obliged to put 25% of your yearly profits on the company account. Whenever you have finished collecting the 25.000 Eur you automatically transform to be a GmbH.

Financial Planning

A big part of the business plan is the financial plan. I won’t go in detail here but I worked on calculating everything from revenue planning, incl. Revenue streams, production cost, revenue forecast, and operating expenses to profitability, funding needs, how my crowdfunding strategy plays into all of that, and planning the cash flow. All of that for the next three years.

I can highly recommend the Gründerplattform by KFW. They have very sophisticated online tools, templates and business plan examples to get the ball rolling.

The most important factor for the financial plan is to invest time in researching good numbers. Your numbers and factors need to be traceable.

If you have further questions, please reach out! In the comments or DM.

Leave a comment

Now I want to share a summary of what I wrote in my business plan.

My Offering

Geist will produce plastic-free bags, made entirely in Europe, with a strong focus on functionality, material quality and haptics. For me the tactile experience is Geist’s unique selling point—most products today are over-staged visually, while the physical feel is neglected. I want the opposite: materials that calm, comfort, and simply feel right.

Geist is my very personal attempt to put soul back into products. In a way I‘m looking for that childhood wonder when choosing designs, sourcing materials, and testing the products day in and day out.

The first product line is pretty much defined, but not yet finished:

#1 Undercover Sacoche – small, flat, for the essentials.

#2 The Cozy One – soft, with more space for everyday and business.

#3 Travel Convertible – adaptable for various travelling needs.

The Travel Convertible still needs it‘s first prototype. So the whole thing could go in a totally different direction.

These three will be produced in series with European workshops. Alongside them, I’ll continue making unique pieces by hand. They won’t be for sale in the usual sense but passed on through a curated gifting model. I’m experimenting with how value can be expressed outside of transactions. Imagine it as a way of appreciating meaningful and positive actions.

Also distribution channels are set: crowdfunding to launch new series, my own online shop (with integrated gifting tool), curated retail, and temporary pop-ups. Communication will rely on values and transparency rather than advertising campaigns—storytelling, process, and collaboration. Real world interactions, the direct contact customers will be central.

The Competition

I see Geist in the middle of the spectrum between highly functional and innovative brands like Bellroy and Peak Design, and sustainable brands only using natural materials, like QWSTION. In between, there is hardly anything. Most function-oriented brands work with polyester and nylon fabrics. Yet the market for natural textiles is at least just as innovative and future-oriented. Trade shows such as the Future Fabrics Expo, which has been steadily growing for years, demonstrate this trend. On the other hand, brands that work with natural materials often lack functionality. Geist aims to change that.

Risks And Measures

The risks are obvious: upfront production financing, low awareness at launch, dependency on me as a solo founder, fragile supply chains.

My measures: crowdfunding for liquidity, strong storytelling to build awareness, partnerships to reduce dependency, and multiple suppliers to keep the chain flexible.

The strongest measure is by far mutual partnerships with companies and communities that share the same values. European workshops, sustainable material suppliers, certification experts, VORN in Berlin, which connects me to a broader startup community.

For examples did I visit QWSTION a week ago.

A Detour To Zurich

Our trip to Heidelberg gave me the opportunity to visit the Factory Friday at the Werkstatt Zürich, which takes place every last friday of the month, It’s a 3,5 hours drive, and everyone who knows me knows I take every opportunity to sit behind the wheel.

I asked QWSTION in advance to make sure that I‘d be able to talk to the employees or even one of the CEOs instead of standing behind windows. In my e-mail I also send them my critical article on their latest products. I thought perhaps—or better hopefully—that could be an interesting conversation starter.

There‘s a short Monocle article about the Factory Friday. If you want to learn more.

As promised, Christian Kaegi, the CEO, was there and even greeted me by name. He took more than two hours to talk with me. I was lucky: almost nobody else visited that day. Still, I felt very much welcomed.

We spoke about my critique — the usability flaws of the Roll Pack, the uncomfortable hook/ring system, the side zipper that scraped my hand raw. Christian admitted those issues were, and in fact, many had already been addressed in the newest iteration of the Rollbag. QWSTION doesn’t see their products as finished, but as ever evolving.

Then we turned to talk about the bigger picture. Together with Tremut, a German consultancy, QWSTION had mapped out the full footprint of their supply chain. The results surprised me: shipping by sea from Asia turned out to be more sustainable than sourcing alternatives from Europe. Even when they compared hemp from Switzerland, made to fabrics in Italy, with banana fabrics from Asia, the material that is now called Bananatex came out ahead. Driving the hemp around in trucks is more harmful. Apparently a thousand miles on a truck equals twenty-thousand miles across the sea. “Local” doesn’t automatically mean “better.”

But sustainability has its price. Producing a fully circular Bananatex version of my favorite backpack would drive costs close to €500. Christian doesn’t think the market is ready for that yet. Even their Simple Collection already runs on slimmer margins than my old Office Collection, simply because Bananatex is three times more expensive than cotton canvas.

It left me torn. On one hand, my March criticism stands: the 2015 Backpack had an ease and emotional bond the newer Roll Pack couldn’t deliver. On the other hand, Christian showed me that behind every compromise lies a calculation — not just of cost, but of what the market is able (or willing) to understand. QWSTION isn’t chasing fashion cycles. They see themselves closer to furniture makers: long-term, iterative, with products that don’t go “out of fashion” after a season. I‘m really curious where my sourcing attempts will take me to find the balance I mentioned in the business plan chapter.

All of our conversation accumulated in an observation he makes about the market, something I feel myself: the internet belongs to giants like Google and Meta, squeezing the rest dry. What counts more and more is meeting people in real life, sharing values face to face, building trust without algorithms in the middle.

At the end of our conversation I asked him about advice for someone like me starting out:

Make decisions first, then you gain experience. Whether success or mistake doesn’t matter—only that you move forward.

Being At Ease

To end this newsletter I want to share the most important thing I learned over the last few months:

Being at ease with an ever evolving, always new situation, and facing it as it comes, and especially how to deal with it.

I don‘t stress myself anymore being productive all the time. Not that I had an issue there I guess, but I‘m always planning ahead, I tend to overthink, I routinely sat down to get work done in the morning even though I missed the energy for a specific task. And that‘s crucial. I learned to trust the instinct when I don‘t want to work.

And if my instinct tells me to join my girlfriend for her business trip, I just do. Sure my brain tells me that I loose a lot of time traveling, that I‘ll be distracted by other things. But my gut knows that this new environment will spark creativity and I‘ll write this newsletter in one go, instead of several sessions sitting in front of my computer at home.

When I started building my business I imagined that I just have to stick to the plan and work my ass off and eventually it’ll all work out. It does, but with stress as the side product. We all know that stress is unhealthy, still we act like our life depends on work. In this particular case stress emerges in the moments where you force yourself to work but your mind needs something else.

Now I realize by prioritizing my instinct, go with the flow, live in the moment, I’m even faster than I mapped out in my project planning tool. All of that while relaxing in front of a Top Gear episode while others sweat over an empty page.

I had a phase where I watched hundreds of videos by productivity gurus on YouTube. My goal was to enhance my work efficiency: Tools, processes, lifestyle. In hindsight, all of it bullshit. Not in the way you might think, it’s not bullshit because the techniques don’t work, they do, but you can’t replicate somebody elses rythm. Especially not if that person is also stressed, even if he or she pretends not to be. Still the content is valueable. You still know about the techniques and tools. I use them all the time. But not because I build a productivity system, but because at that moment in time the knowledge comes in handy. It’s the obsession with a culture, the productivity community or hustle culture, that makes you sick. It‘s a healthy impulse to see what they preach and soak in some interesting information, but whenever you oversaturate theory and loose sight of what you need to do to progress, you obsess. The deeper you go down the rabbit hole the more you loose connection to your own impulses and furthermore life itself.

And funnily enough since I stopped forcing myself to work I started to change. I just do things. I don’t worry about the workload anymore, or the unpleasantness of the process. My mind reconfigured to see advantages. Just do it then it’s done.

As always it’s about balance. You go a couple of steps here, then you go there, and then comes a time where there’s enough motivation and courage to start something you have no clue of achieving.

Instinct is your balance-o-meter. It gives you hints to where your system is staggering. Go there, even if it‘s uncomfortable.

In this issue, I want to walk you through the entire design process of one of my current bag concepts.

We‘ll dive deep into asking the right questions, solving problems, technical development, and—most importantly—decising-making. That includes balancing intuition and straightforward logic.

Inspiration for this sacoche bag came from two directions:

1. There‘s still no elegant way (speaking of dudes like me) to wear your daily essentials low-key.

My most essential item is my phone—it‘s overtaken my wallet and keys by now. I don‘t like carrying this big device in my pants pocket; I still do sometimes out of convenience, but it‘s just too big. In response, my wallet has naturally shrunk over the years, yet my ID, driver’s license, and the bonus card for my trusted burger joint are still essentials. And then there are keys—those bulky buggers. Why are car keys getting bigger and bigger? And what I can‘t live without: music. I don‘t leave the house without at least a small pair of earphones close at hand.

The mass market adapted to the Zeitgeist by selling bags like this:

I like them, I wear them a lot myself—but sometimes they just look stupid. And I don’t know, but opening a zipper just beneath your chin looks awkward.

2. Last winter in London, I found this bag:

I’m still intrigued by the closure. It‘s not particularly practical (especially when the belt runs right through the middle like this), but using it is a delight. It reminds me of the feeling you get snapping shut the case of Apple’s AirPods—just satisfying. Naturally, I wanted to adapt this principle somehow, somewhere.

So, what do I want this bag to be?

• Carry a (big) smartphone

• A small wallet

• Keys

• Something like AirPods

• The ability to grab my phone as quickly as if it were in my trousers

• A slim profile so it can sit under a jacket

• No tactical aesthetic—something simple, elegant, and delightful to use

That’s how I’d describe it now. But weeks ago, when I started designing this sacoche, I also wanted room for a small notebook and pen. I even imagined it fitting a larger wallet. I thought: people are different, and the bag should offer flexibility. But inspiration rarely comes as a single idea—you have to start building and see where exploration and testing take you.

Rough Prototyping

I began the project by laying out my essentials on the table and wrapping fabric around them. Usually, I start with quick sketches—just doodles to explore shape and function. But this time, my gut told me to jump into physical prototyping. I needed to play with real objects, tetris them into the most compact, accessible form possible.

That process led to some happy accidents. For example, I discovered that folding the pockets instead of sewing them onto the lining creates these smooth transitions:

When you put your hand in or pull out some weirdly shaped object (looking at you, keys), there’s no resistance. Nothing awkward. It seems like a small thing, but after using the later prototypes for a while, it just feels smooth. Bonus: this method also helps during production. I only need one fabric pattern, and the z-fold lets me add cushioning from the other side later on.

The first prototypes also defined the central theme: The bag opens like a fan. Your essentials are presented in an orderly, almost ceremonial way.

And how does it close? Gravity. Just like the London bag—it closes itself.

These are the best moments in design, when inspiration falls into place and just feels right. Even if you know that there are hurdles ahead and it’ll be tricky to solve certain details, it screams: You‘ve got something here!

One of the tricky bits: The fan needed to both look good and work cleanly—not like a floppy foreskin dancing around. I also wanted to hide as many seams as possible, so my first attempt—just sewing onto the edges—didn’t work.

I had to include the fan folds in the main seam and connect the sides after inverting the whole bag. Too nerdy? I could go on about how I stabilized the fan to fold in the right direction, but I guess you‘d fall asleep ;)

Insert: Here are some shots of the lastest version focussing on the fan, judge for yourself:

With the second prototype done, I felt confident enough to try proper materials.

The other day I found this black Italian wool with beautiful pattern work in the leftovers at Textile in Potsdam. It nails the feel and quality I imagine for my brand. Like most of my advanced prototypes, the outer material is upholstery fabric—robust, cozy, tactile. These won’t be the final materials, but they definitely represent the right vibe for this particular piece.

This is the third iteration:

My real world testing was quite a desaster.

The idea to use the same belt for closure and carry doesn‘t work. Not because of access or security, but because opening it shortens the belt, which makes the whole bag ride up. Reaching for your phone feels like your mom might ground you for your posture.

Also, the size and shape were off—it just looked too big. And a little… boring. My jack-of-all-trades approach and my self-proclaimed technical ingenuity messed with the proportions. Honestly, I felt stupid wearing it. So under the vest it went—not for subtlety and style, but out of shame.

So, I left the country and questioned my reason for existence:

Sometimes you need to let your subconscious do the work. It’s like training: recovery is where the magic happens. I thought a month of downtime would mean I’d forgotten everything I learned in the past 6 months. But the opposite was true—my mind felt clearer, my steps more intentional, creative work flows more naturally.

Three main things needed to change:

1. Solve the belt issue without loosing the unique closure and fan movement.

2. Make it way smaller—just fit the essentials I mentioned in the beginning.

3. Try thicker fabrics to see if padding could be eliminated.

Here’s the fourth version I came up with:

Now there are two belts. One to carry—hooked to the top loops (now no longer metal, for weight and simplicity). The second belt runs through the loops and down the back, forming a hanging handle.

That way, you open the bag like before—but to close it, you pull down the handle, and the magnets do the rest.

At first, I thought: is this too complex for such a small bag? Turns out, it’s actually more convenient—and faster—than a zipper on a sling.

You might think: okay, but what about theft, or rain, or whatever. Fair. But the user experience is really satisfying and unique, I’ll make it work and I’ll test it thoroughly—in real life, with as much feedback I can get.

So here’s your moment, dear reader. Yes, you. Open Substack and tell me what you think, or write me a dm.

Leave a comment

But… materials.

They looked wrong, and they were way too stiff. Folding them into these tricky little corners nearly made my fingers bleed. And the handle appears to have been excreted rather than created.

Additionally the exterior is still off, it‘s still boring and missing details. Also, the layout’s still off. A big phone sits too close to the top opening, so the magnets are basically doing…

And the magnets I got from the Baumarkt (German for hardware store) are not up to the task.

So: back to thinner materials for better precision, plus strategically placed padding (because: keys and phones). The layout needs some minor tweeks and I‘ll test wether a rope is a better handle. I think they‘ll fit the top of the bag better then the wide bands.

My current prototype:

Ignore the current colors—though I gotta say, that interior lining with suit wool is looking kind of cool.

Some pics from production:

I‘m particularly proud of the transition from the exterior fabric to the interior lining:

To achieve that I sewed it like this:

That‘s the current status.

I‘m still not happy with the shape. This tends to happen when you skip proper silhouette sketching in the beginning of the design process—you end up paying for it later.

Still, there’s something about this bag that draws me in.

Maybe the right material combination will make the simple shape shine. A more visible pattern that offers the level of detail needed.

I imagine this bag working well under an unbuttoned jacket or shacket. You’d only see the cross belt and the rope handle hanging down. Which means those visible elements really have to be on point—quality and design-wise.

Especially these days, when men around my generation like to avoid overt decoration, small, thoughtful details like this could add just the right amount of personality to an otherwise calm outfit.

And since I’m aiming to use no plastics, with no zippers or metal parts, you could take off the cross belt and toss the whole bag in the washing machine.

What about women or non-gender-specific folks? Would you wear something like this?

After a month of travelling I'm back bagging for business.

Just a few days after returning from the USA I boarded yet another plane to visit the Future Fabrics Expo in London that ran from June 24th-25th.

In this issue, I’ll share a recap of my very first visit to a dedicated textile fair—one that, coincidentally, offered just the right ingredients for what I was seeking for my brand:

1. Plastic-free fabrics that enable me to evoke a sense of warmth through the tactile experience.

2. European manufacturers, allowing close collaboration and efficient shipping.

3. A kindred community.

This recap will deep dive into some of my highlights from the show.

Content

• The Fair

• Community

  • VORN - The Berlin Fashion Hub

  • Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp

• Materials

  • Fabrics

  • Three Kinds Of Leather

  • Special Usecases

  • Packaging

The Fair

The Future Fabrics Expo (FFE) is founded by the not-for-profit organisation The Sustainable Angle which aims to initiate and support projects that lower the environmental impact of industry and society.

Since 2011, the FFE has been a pioneer in showcasing innovative material solutions that prioritize preservation and regeneration of nature, climate, and biodiversity.

Now the largest sustainable sourcing showcase for fashion and interiors, FFE features thousands of materials each year and serves as a leading platform for responsible sourcing and industry knowledge.

You can check out a curated range of materials and fabrics on their Virtual Expo, containing key information regarding the mill or suppliers sustainability credentials and positive solutions, rigorously researched by The Sustainable Angle.

Community

VORN - The Berlin Fashion Hub

https://vorn-hub.com

I had the chance to connect with VORN, a dynamic space driving sustainable innovation in fashion.

I’m especially excited about their Microfactory SHIFT—a collaborative production model designed for small labels like mine. After speaking with Co-CEO Marte Hentschel, I’m going to visit their co-working space near the BIKINI Berlin and tap into their community of partners. VORN’s approach to shared resources, short-run production, and circularity could make a real difference for independent brands trying to scale. This is the kind of local, values-aligned network that might make my endeavor more accessible and achievable.

Here a selection of partners in the SHIFT ecosystem:

Lebenskleidung

Organic textile specialists offering small-batch, digitally printed fabrics with fair-trade supply chains.

Charle

Plastic-free bands made from certified natural fibers and powered by renewable energy.

Valupa

100% bio-based, compostable fashion accessories made from food, cosmetic, and fashion waste.

Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp

A powerhouse non-profit that unites over 10,000 stakeholders across Europe’s flax and hemp value chain. It delivers two major certifications—Masters of FLAX FIBRE™ and Masters of LINEN™—to guarantee origin and transparency. The Alliance also operates an economic observatory, develops blockchain-powered traceability tools and environmental footprint datasets.

Their newly launched E‑Sourcing Platform—the Linen & Hemp Dream Lab—is a valuable tool for designers like me, offering access to a huge catalogue of certified textiles and material innovations.

Materials

Fabrics

Nona Source

https://www.nona-source.com/

Nona Source buys leftover materials from luxury brands and sells them on their online plattform.

Some of the deadstock is available at more than 2000 linear meters. Yeah, you think like "deadstock"? 2000m?

Global Green

https://www.globalgreen.solutions/ecosimple

This Dutch wholesaler drew my attention by offering beautifully colored and patterned recycled fabrics. They're produced in Brazil by EcoSimple.

Diama

https://www.diama-tissage.com/

This French company is redefining textile production in Senegal with 80% locally grown, rain-fed organic cotton and 100% plant-based dyes. Every step—from fibre to fabric—is fully traceable and handmade. By reviving traditional dyeing and weaving techniques Diama is investing in local craft and training the next generation of artisans.

Ventile

https://ventile.co.uk/

The kind of water resistance I was looking for. “A heritage performance fabric brand known for its tightly woven, weatherproof cotton. The back side is not waxed and the yarn is impregnated PVC free. Originally developed in 1930s Manchester to protect WWII Air Force pilots, Ventile® is now produced in Switzerland by Stotz & Co AG and trusted by both outdoor and fashion brands.”

HerMin

https://www.hermin.com/

The Taiwanese company "vows to follow the relentless pursuit of producing sustainable yet functional fabrics." They created the “The Natural Laboratory” project to continuously test the limits of natural fiber.

"Our BNS Bouncy Technology allows us to make Cotton, Tencel® and Modal® achieve stretch-ability without using any Lycra® or spandex. Fabrics dyed through our proprietary EZ Dye Technology save more than 80% of steam + water, 70% Alkali + Salt, and 50% or more dyestuff."

TNTEX

https://tntex.eu/

An inexpensive source of basic but innovative fabrics made from hemp, pineapple, kapok, linen, and cotton. By constantly innovating in the reuse of textile materials, they give valuable raw materials a second life and beautiful texture.

Papillon Bleu

https://www.papillonbleu.com/

One of the best tactile experiences I had on the show was with the fabrics from Papillon Bleu. Their blend of recycled wool & hemp doesnt just feel substantial and strong but offers beautiful colors that come from cashmere waste.

Bysshe

Their website seems down... but there were samples at the fair. I hope for the best because I really love what they are doing with hemp and cotton.

Their fabrics are woven and finished in England, using hemp yarn from partners in Cornwall and Romania. Alongside Bysshe's work with European hemp yarn providers, Bysshe Partnership is also working with farmers in England to develop the UK capacity to produce fine hemp yarns here on the island. Bysshe's ambition is to create a sustainable, British Isles fabric production network - from seed to finished fabric - and reestablish regional fabric industries in the UK and Europe.

LIBECO

https://www.libeco.com/en/

"Libeco is the ultimate destination for Belgian linen of the highest quality."

Heavy and strong materials with great weave pattern work.

CLERICI TESSUTO

https://clericitessuto.it/en/

Italian distributor with "ancient" tradition and "point of reference for the world’s major luxury brands". Since 1922, they have been operating a supply chain based on its own production resources and the best Italian textile partners.

I'm not sure if this supplier is something for me, but their material archive seems like heaven on earth.

Piacenza

https://www.piacenza1733.com/en/

Now we're going expensive. Wool, Cashmere and Vicuna used to perfection. Some would say this is the way to go when I want to get serious about tactile experience...

"With a steadfast and unwavering commitment to quality, every detail is carefully attended to with the utmost attention, from the selection of the finest raw materials to the craftsmanship of the production process."

HeiQ AeoniQ

https://www.heiq-aeoniq.com/

They aim to replace Polyester & Nylon with their "Climate Positive Circular Cellulosic Yarn".

"We managed to reproduce the properties of polyester and nylon yarns in a cellulosic, biodegradable, and endlessly recyclable fiber."

In terms of haptics I don't miss Polyester or Nylon. But if they really offer similar physical properties I'm listening.

Cotonea

https://fabrics.cotonea.de/en/

German supplier focussing on pure organic fabrics made of cotton. Best transparency concerning supply chain I've seen on the fair. Grown in Uganda & Kirgistan, manufactured in Czech, fair pricing, highly educational website, and great B2B online shopfor their fabrics.

CABES GIE

https://cabes.bf/

A handwoven textile producer with a social mission based in Burkina Faso. Their cooperative of over 2400 artisans is committed to environmentally friendly and ethical practices at every step of the supply chain.

Just fantastically unique patterns.

Three Kinds of Leather

If I'll use leather or vegan skins in my products I don't know yet. But you can't deny the unmatched aesthetic (especially when aging), durability and unique haptics.

For me there are three interesting directions to play the sensation of this special material these days.

1. Real leather, done properly

e.g. British Pasture Leather

Using hides from UK pasture-fed farms and vegetable-tanning them naturally in Britain, they offer fully traceable, biodegradable leather—without chrome or synthetic finishes.

2. Imitating leather

e.g. UNCAGED

The start-Up discovered a way to emulate leather’s renowned strength and durability using plant-based proteins derived from grains.

ELEVATE can be plastic-free or have 1% bioPU as a topcoat. Application is recommended where very high durability is needed or adjustments in appearance such as super glossy is wished.

3. Alternative materials, that come close but are still their own thing

e.g. Revoltech

The start-up is developing two materials that are reminicent of leather but have a unique and authentic asthetic.

1. LOVR™ gives new life to industrial hemp waste that would otherwise be left in the fields.

2. Made from algae, MATTR™ is uniquely soft and flexible, making it ideal for high-quality applications.

Special Usecases

Rootfull

https://www.rootfull.com

This project merges craft with biology to grow textile from root. Grass seeds grow on carved beeswax templates that guide the root as it develops.

I could imagine this as structural elements in my bag and when you think about the possibilities with generative design using e.g. Grasshopper, 🤯.

SIMPLIFYBER

https://www.simplifyber.com/

Instead of spinning, weaving. cutting, and sewing, Simplifyber has created a manufacturing platform that does what injection molding did for plastics, but with soft, natural fibre goods.

The liquid used derives from natural inputs like FSC-certified wood, recycled textiles, and agricultural and post-consumer waste.

HD Wool

https://www.hdwool.com

They showcased how wool—nature’s original performance fibre—can be elevated for modern, high-performance applications. Through their Woolkeepers® programme, they’ve created a fully traceable and certified supply chain that connects wool growers directly to end products with full transparency.

To enhance durability and maintain loft their Active Insulation material is blended with non-GMO PLA, a biopolymer made from renewable plant sugars. This plant-based fibre offers a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics, improving wash resilience without compromising on circular values.

Imbotex

https://www.imbotex.it/en

This Italian company specialized in high-tech, natural, and recycled fibre paddings for clothing, furniture, workwear, and beyond. Since 1955, they’re combining noble fibres like wool and silk with plant‑based, upcycled, and technical fibres.

Packaging

Want to apply your branding to every aspect of the product experience, like packaging, labels, swing tags, tapes (and the list goes on)?

Check out these examples from the fair:

Weavable

https://www.weavabel.com/

Extra: Leather and Metal applications

Nilörn

https://www.nilorn.com/

Extra: Hub to support with Design & Logistics

This has been quite a recap. I hope you managed to find some valuable insights!

If you have thoughts, feedback or think of something I should know about along my journey, please:

Leave a comment

Lies hier die Deutsche Version

A former colleague of mine asked me recently:

“Why bags?”

“I dunno, I love them.”

“Why?”

“I always liked textiles, I like how they are made, I guess…”

“Why do you want to make them?”

“I want to master a new craft.”

“But why a business then?”

“Why, why… Because it feels right! I had that moment when they laid us off, an impulse to do that, and it clicked!”

He just looked at me. As if he was waiting for something he didn't get yet.

“It felt like the passion for cars I had when I was a child. I was looking for that.”

“Haha sorry, I didn‘t want to push you. I‘m doing this business course at the moment and they force us to ask why. Forget about it.”

But I didn’t. This question lingered inside. Every morning I could sense that my subconscious had been wrestling with this word, with this simple question.

Day by day I felt better.

And then one day, in a famous moment of laziness a sentence formed in my head:

Capturing the Soul in Matter

That‘s why I do things, why I have always done them. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that some artists, musicians, filmmakers and even designers were able to capture their soul—their personality—outside their own minds. So we as the audience and users can sense their presence through their work.

The ability to write my own WHY down makes things so easy now. Like a quick check-in to see if your ego has drifted off to some other senseless rationalization making you feel miserable.

For example, if this newsletter is there to pour my soul into matter than the newsletter is a container. Literally a vessel for myself, to manifest the path of building this new life.

I believe if we pour ourselves—our true selves—into things, be it text or products, others receive an offer to connect, to be in community with someone that shares the same beliefs.

If we create something without a perceivable WHY, it feels hollow. In terms of text it would be a platitude—if you‘re lucky, fact—but containing no truth to anyone. In terms of a product it would be a commodity, something you compare prices for because you only need it, but not want it.

In my Geist Manifesto I spoke about “making people feel understood.” Now I can concretize: share the same beliefs.

Language and Design are beautiful ways to do that.

With Geist I‘ll try to make this connection with you a multisensory experience. Something to make you feel home.

With my writing I‘ll try to translate my gut. I try to put words for something that makes us go: “Ah, that‘s what I was always trying to say!”

Here‘s where the topic of this issue comes in

While reading all these books relating to business development, I realized that the most valuable thing—next to learning about new methods and approaches—is to be able to rationalize where my instinct was already trying to point me towards.

Reading, listening, and receiving feedback aren’t just about collecting data. It’s choosing the right pieces to a puzzle you know the theme and subject of.

Like helping my gut speak a language my brain can understand.

Losing Touch With My WHY

Materializing soul. A concept I always felt, but was too far off to exist as a tool in the rational part of my brain.

Simon Sinek with his book Start With Way helped me translate what my gut was trying to tell me for the past 5 years, but I wasn’t able to act on it. As a child I had a pretty clear WHY without really knowing.

My life revolved around cars and movies. The relationship with cars was different though. My uncle owns a used car dealership. I spent so much time running around his company picking keys from a huge key rack and playing inside hundreds of cars, pretending to drive, and checking out every corner.

Quickly I developed a sense for which brands and models had it, this famous and mysterious it.

Today I would describe it as soul, others name it personality or character. A feeling that the people behind building these cars put love, care and purpose into the products. There it is, crystal clear, my WHY, already tattooed into my limbic brain: Capturing the Soul in Matter.

As soon as I started studying car design I lost it, and as soon as I worked as an Interior Designer at Volkswagen it was gone for good.

I studied in Pforzheim, the German Mekka for car design offsprings. It‘s all about form and shape exploration. One of the famous questions my professor asked us when reviewing our design proposals was “In which direction does your car drive?”

You learn to question the norm, the basics of what a car looks like. It is the artistic way of exploring shapes that express movement. We also had design history and car engineering, sure, still always through the filter of style, era of design, zeitgeist. It was rarely about the product that people end up buying, it was more about the picture of a moving object. It was about how good your sketch is, how memorable your so called theme—the key shape concept, like the wedge shape of sportscars.

That‘s a very superficial description of what a car designers job is. If I weren‘t so confused and blinded by this idea of the job at that stage of my education, I could have seen the opportunity I was looking for. Of course great designer can shape the identity of a brand—be proactive to influence the product—if he keeps on evolving and learning.

I never ended up there because I did what was asked of me. Sketch, and win the competition. And that‘s fine when you‘re starting out as a Junior Designer, but if I had my WHY pinned on the wall I might have seen a clear direction, a north star, that there‘s still so much to learn.

When I started out at the Volkswagen Design Center Potsdam the real school begun. The studio was packed with talented designers who shaped some of the greatest cars. The first years were all about mastering the craft of form development and learning to fit into the process of so many skilled professions. But one thing was really odd to me, and killed my motivation instantly.

The Comfort Trap

Volkswagen is widely permeated and infected with bureaucracy, decadence, laziness, complacency, greed for financial wealth.

And as Simon Sinek points out in his book, this is usually the time when a company looses its WHY. In the case of Volkswagen it was so simple and clear, it‘s in the name: Volkswagen, building a car for the common people. Ask someone common these days if he can afford a Golf

And even when we tried—and I‘d say many from our studio in Potsdam did—to build a real Volkswagen, you ended up crashing…

into walls of engineers telling you what can‘t be done—even if you offered solutions,

walls of bosses changing concepts to more prestigious and luxurious alternatives because they don‘t drive Volkswagens themselves—they are chauffeured,

and walls of aimless business advisors trying to replicate Tesla—even though their WHY is a completely different one—and handing product decisions to Silicon Valley tech enthusiasts who don‘t even have a drivers license. Yes, that’s why you have touchscreens everywhere these days.

With that frustration I took a different path. Our visualization team and I founded an internal video agency to make cool videos to communicate ideas. It was fun, somehow disconnected from the fucked-up situation, and comfortable.

At this point my WHY was completely gone. I had a fun job but felt empty. The money came in so there was no need to change course. My private life is fabulous, so I can cope with some hours of not so nice professional work, don‘t I?

Listening, the right way

But still my gut kept poking me. I wrote screenplays and started a YouTube channel, because I interpreted my feelings as a hint to become a filmmaker. That‘s what I‘m supposed to do! No, it was my neocortex trying to make sense of the emotional chaos handing me a one-way-ticket to guaranteed burn-out.

Making sense of your inner world comes down to two forms:

1. Turn off your brain and just do it. Instinct will pull you. Failure will steer you.

2. Listen, read, watch, be present, and reflect what‘s resonating.

Everyone knows the feeling when things start falling into place. That‘s what the right books at the right time, or the right conversation with the right person can give you.

Learning isn‘t just absorbing knowledge. Books like Start With Why help me articulate what I’ve always known but didn’t know how to say.

For my own business endeavour for example I learned that price reductions like special offers, promotions like buy-one-get-one-free, inducing fear by convincing you of missing out, aspirations like “rich in one week“ or peer pressure like “dentists choose Dr.Best”, devalue the brand longterm.

As I thought instinctively, don’t fall into the trap of doing what all business owner do to drive sales. The knowledge exists that manipulation hurts your company long term. So why is everyone still doing it? Manipulation-drives-sales is a quick win tactic. Like quick dopamine hits on Instagram. But people love the movies, not memes. The fast-path to grow an audience is like price-slashing to drive sales.

Manipulative business are lacking in WHY they exist

They solely seduce an audience or customers who come for the quick hit. Not because they care or trust them.

Don‘t fall into the trap of using the next best practice to create results quick. I think we’re ready for something calmer, something that doesn‘t shout "you‘re not enough!" or "the world is moving faster and faster, so you have to do that too!".

We don’t have to. Let’s not be manipulated, let’s use some brains and gut.

It’s not just me, the feeling is real. Every week now I hear about someone who’s lost their job. Entire industries are shifting. People are scrambling.

Comfort is disappearing. And I believe that discomfort should be our radar. Not the problem.

And now that the anomaly of 20th-century economic growth is over, we’re waking up to that.

I think the days of selling shit are numbered. People don’t want to be manipulated anymore.

It’s our task to define the companies of the future.

Where I‘m at

Currently I’m developing a financial plan—for myself, and for the collaboration with my tax advisor. Looking into other business plans to get a feel for how people define markets, metrics, and realism.

The most fun I have with crafting and testing bags. Pouring hours into development.

This week I’m going to start a trial at a small workshop that lets me use their laser cutting machines. Cutting parts by hand takes way too long. Additionally there a are more startups located at that place, hope to have some valuable exchanges there.

Some days, it’s chaotic. But it doesn’t scare me anymore.

Because for the first time since I started drawing cars when I was a child, I know why I’m doing it.

I‘d be super interested in your WHYs! Write them in the comments!

Leave a comment

As a result: How a brand’s evolution helped me sharpen my own.

Deutsche Version

Back in 2015 I discovered QWSTION.

I needed a new backpack, and researched for ages. The „Backpack“ in Organic Jet Black (link to this) hits all the right notes, and I was sold by this photo:

In 2008 QWSTION even defined their mission statement around that design:

And boy, did I use this thing. I loved it. The leather-like haptics of the coated cotton canvas, the feel of the cotton lining embracing my belongings, the hardware, though off-the-shelf, functioned seamlessly. The twist-lock closure was particularly satisfying, offering both security and a tactile pleasure. However, the zippers, while initially reliable, eventually succumbed to daily wear after eight years.

To this day, I haven’t found a backpack that feels so right—especially on my back. It‘s not because of some fancy padding or ergonomically shaped strap design. QWSTION nailed the balance between dimensional stability and softness. It’s hard to describe— but the whole backpack hugs you somehow.

And it got better over time. The natural materials age nicely, not just visually, I suspect that the fit evolved because my body shaped the material ever so slightly. A very unique quality cotton has.

The Shift

Cue some Hans Zimmer!

„Introducing Bananatex! A material that’s engineered to be the future, derived from the Abacá plant, boasts a silky yet firm texture, offering durability without compromising on environmental responsibility.“

Now QWSTION is going full throttle, I thought when the news broke. I was impressed.

Immediately I ordered the 2021 Roll Pack.

Hit it Hans!

„A backpack that doesn’t just hold your belongings, but holds a philosophy.“

Well yeah—let‘s cut the drama.

I’m honest with you, I wanted to love it, and a bit I do because Bananatex is a marvel, proving that natural materials can outperform synthetics. But every time I use it, I feel like I’m working against the bag instead of the bag working for me.

There are moments when a brand you’ve cherished takes a bold leap, redefining its essence. QWSTION evolves to full circular design prioritizing minimalism, zero-waste patterns from a revolutionary material.

But for the sake of reduction, they now rely on a single hook/ring combination for everything. They‘re are a pain in the ass—hard to open, wearing down the materials over time, and paradoxically (in some configurations, like the top handle) coming loose on their own.

And that undyed metal zipper on the side? It‘s supposed to offer quick access to the bag‘s interior—a necessity because undoing the roll-top every time would drive me insane. But the placement means that if your bag is fully loaded, you have to force your hand inside, scraping against metal. A design detail that’s beautiful in theory but brutal in practice.

These aren’t just nitpicks. They shape how I feel about the bag. The 2015 model disappeared into my routine. Yes, the 2021 model demands my attention, but not in a good way.

Hmm…

The Price of Innovation

200 EUR I paid 2015

300 EUR in 2021.

Now, the Roll Pack costs nearly 400 EUR.

I get it. The supply chain is tighter. Sustainability isn’t cheap. The world rages! But does the price reflect the innovation, or is it just good business?

QWSTION remains a private company, so there’s no clear revenue picture. Some sources say they make under $1 million a year. Others claim it’s closer to $25 million.

Here’s the irony: for all its sustainability, my 2021 Roll Pack doesn’t feel like something I’ll keep forever.

I use it. I respect it. But if I find something better, I’ll move on.

That’s not sustainable.

What’s clear is that their open-source approach to distributing Bananatex has changed the game. Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, COS—luxury brands are adopting it, reinforcing its credibility. QWSTION has become an industry disruptor—not just a sustainable alternative, and less a brand prioritizing bags. They are a lecture for full transparency, showing the entire supply chain, including farming practices, moving towards a completely circular economy, aiming for products that return to nature without waste.

Returning to nature very quick.

Reflection for Geist

I think back to my own design philosophy. What makes an object stay? Not just physically, but emotionally? What makes us reach for the same bag day after day, year after year, even when newer, shinier options exist?

It’s not just durability. It’s attachment.

People don’t hold onto things just because they last. They hold onto them because they mean something—because they deliver in multiple ways. Because the object understands the user, rather than demanding to be understood.

QWSTION’s early bags had that. A subtle, thoughtful balance between utility and comfort, between function and feeling. I like spending time with that bag.

I want that for Geist.

Still, QWSTION’s current storytelling around circular design is a masterclass in how to communicate with clarity. While the 2015 bag needed hundred words to communicate its value, the 2021 only needs a few.

If Geist manages to be precise in communication and deliver on multiple levels to create a relationship, I should be fine.

Plot Twist

They recently introduced the original backpack made from Bananatex! Yes, they listened!

But did they really? This little detail makes me suspicious:

The shoulder straps look thinner, and the mounting has been simplified. That definitely reduces comfort.

Make up your own mind…

I‘m not buying.

What do you think? Any similar stories you want to share?

Leave a comment

I set out with clear, pragmatic intentions: I wanted to make bags that are beautiful, functional, and made for life. Everything a great bag should be.

But as noble as that goal sounded, it felt ordinary.

As many times before, when I get stuck, I turn to music—especially the ritual of putting on a record. I carefully slide it out of its anti-static sleeve, place it on the turntable, turn on the amplifier, watch the vinyl rotate in silence while I brush it for dust, and then sense the tiny resistance in my finger when the needle catches a groove.

I could also just press play on my smartphone.

That’s when I realized I wasn’t solely chasing function. I was chasing feeling.

I found it through my own hands—learning to sew, working with materials, looking for the most elegant solutions I could think of. And when I handed my prototypes to someone, their first reaction wasn’t about the shape or the practicality. It was: “Oh… this feels cozy.”

If I had handed my initial ideas off to someone else back then, my brand would have been just another manufacturer of products. Something practical, yes, but detached from who I am.

A subtle shift that makes all the difference.

The Warmth of the Unknown

What makes an object matter? Not just in terms of utility, but in the way it quietly takes root in your day-to-day life. Why do some things stay with us, while others fade and end up being replaced?

People don’t just buy products. They buy how those products make them feel—the identity they take on by owning them, the values they signal by choosing them.

My brand is for those who refuse to settle for the disposable, the uninspired, the soulless. It’s for those who believe that luxury isn’t about excess, but about depth. Where every stitch, every curve, every considered detail whispers of time spent, of care, of soul poured into matter.

That’s why I named it Geist.

I wanted it to capture something deeper—a longing, a nostalgia for complex emotions. The kind of warmth that sneaks up on you, like stepping into a dimly lit café on a cold day, or the first touch of somebody else’s skin that erases everything you assumed.

It reminds me of one of my favorite moments in cinema:

An unexpected, gentle yet firm hand by the enigmatic Mr. Darcy—his actual presence felt before it is understood.

Subtlety Over Minimalism

A friend of mine recently said: “Minimalism is a lack of culture.”

I had to think about that for a long time. There’s truth in it. But I’d rephrase: it’s not minimalism itself that’s the problem—it’s the lack of depth that kills it. When brands strip things down just to cut costs, to make something soulless and cheap, that’s when it becomes hollow.

Subtlety, on the other hand, is about intention. It’s about leaving space for intrigue, for curiosity, for something unspoken.

The designer Martin Margiela mastered this. He understood that what you leave unsaid can resonate louder than what you proclaim. That mystery—restraint—can be a form of power.

The fashion industry thrives on the idea that you are not enough. That every season, you need to become someone new.

None of my bags should give people the urge to change. They are there to make people feel understood.

In a world obsessed with more—more noise, more consumption, more distraction, more recognition, more trends—Geist chooses less.

Same with our most beloved buzz word; sustainability isn’t about the latest greenwashing trend. For me, it’s about making something people actually want to keep. Not just because it lasts—but because they can’t imagine replacing it.

Geist seduces,

And never begs.

It just packs.

Haha, trash. Cue the world’s shabbiest drum kit: BA-DUM-TSSS!

That’s Geist

A connection. A reminder that you don’t need more—you just need something that feels right.

Something that, in a world of disposable noise, quietly belongs to you.

Like warmth, where you least expected it.

Leave a comment

In today’s newsletter, I want to reflect on the past few weeks and how my journey of going fully self-employed, learning a new craft, and starting a new professional life is going so far. These are the topics:

• Entrepreneurship—spiced up with my own approach.

• Mastering the Craft of Bag Making

  • Learning to Sew

  • Buying a Sewing Machine

  • Virtual Tailoring with CLO 3D

• Documenting the Whole Process Online.

• My Next Steps

Entrepreneurship—spiced up with my own approach.

The first thing I did at the beginning of this year was dive deep into business and entrepreneurship literature. I had already started researching authors and approaches way back in 2024, so by the time I woke up on the morning of January 3rd, a pile of books was waiting for me beside my bed.

So what did a month of distilling information and smoking my brain result in?

First of all, the process helped me define what I actually want. Do I want to be rich from what I set out to do? Sure. But what does “rich” or “wealthy” actually mean to me?

I Am Wealthy If…

• I spend my time being with people I love and admire—Family and friends.

• I‘m healthy, taking care of myself physically and mentally.

• I create things others find beautiful, useful and inspiring.

• I am free and have the choice to explore life, univeral truths & my passions.

• I’m just able to pay for it all.

I Am Not Wealthy If…

• My possessions—and ultimately money—hold me hostage.

So, how am I realizing all of that? What is my plan?

Is it possible to do that with a 9-5 job? Perhaps, but it‘s a pretty big gamble. Most people work for 45 years (probably more in the future) and then retire, hoping they’ve saved and invested enough money to finally live freely. That‘s not for me. I don‘t want to trade my whole life just to live freely when I‘m old.

The other gamble is entrepreneurship, which takes 5-10 years of intense work to kick off. There are some core steps that all blend together and are designed to lead me to wealth:

Step 1: A Mindset Shift

Switching from being a consumer to being a producer. It doesn’t sound like much, but this is the main ingredient in becoming an entrepreneur. The classic analogy: Instead of digging for gold, sell shovels.

Step 2: Stay True To Your Artistic Integrity.

As I wrote in my previous newsletter:

„Start with truth—make what matters to you. Then, refine, but don’t pander. Use feedback to sharpen your vision, not dilute it.“

Right now, that’s my main focus—learning the craft of making bags by designing things I actually want to use.

Step 3: Listen and Solve Problems.

Business is all about opportunity. As the “selling shovels” analogy suggests, listening and understanding needs is key. Solve problems.

That’s why I started with surveys and sharing my creations online. You wouldn’t believe how many insights I’ve already gathered—insights that allow me to improve my products and offer something of value.

Step 4: The Commandment of Control.

I need to be in control of everything in and around my business—organization, products, pricing, financial planning, and operations. I need to be the driver, not a hitchhiker.

Lack of control is the main reason startups fail: A great example is Sebastian Kupfer’s e-mobility startup failure

Last week, I finally found a tax office to help me with accounting and financial management. But I only decided to work with them because they respected my need for control and were willing to teach me the process in depth—something I still lack.

Step 5: Detaching Time.

My business and income need to be detached from my time. A business tied to my time is just a job.

This is the big one, and the most important step. As an entrepreneur, I need to work on my business rather than in it. I need to develop systems that allow it to run without my constant involvement.

That means shifting from being the technician doing the work to being the entrepreneur designing a scalable, self-sufficient company.

I’m not naïve enough to think I can achieve all of this overnight. I know the next five years (or more) will be a lot of work. But if I succeed, the chances are hig that I’ll be wealthy in the way I defined earlier.

Mastering the Craft of Bag Making

Learning To Sew

Let‘s move to the second construction side I started working on around end of January. I could have just hired someone to do the sewing, but I firmly believe that knowing how to build bags from scratch allows me to be more creative and specific with what I want to achieve.

I looked for sewing courses all over Potsdam and Berlin. What I found was dissapointing:

„Beginner Course—February until May, 45 min, once per week.“

45 minutes, once per week, seriously? The first session was just an introduction to the machine. What was I supposed to do with the rest of the week? That wasn’t going to work.

Instead, I called in a favor from a friend and former Volkswagen colleague, who offered to teach me the basics. Another former colleague lent me a sewing machine.

The crash course started with me shouting:

„Ahhh, so there are two threads—one from above and one from below!“

That’s the level of proficiency my friend had to deal with. But by the end of the day—thanks to her amazing teaching skills—I knew all the basics. By day two, I had already sewn this:

Buying a Sewing Machine

After that, I decided to buy my own sewing machine. The Singer Heavy Duty I borrowed struggled with thick fabrics, and I didn’t want to return it in pieces.

I visited a local dealer at Textile and explained my needs:

• Longevity – I’ll use it almost every day, and it needs to be easy to repair.

• Power & Build Quality – It should handle heavy fabrics effortlessly.

He said: „You won’t believe it but making proper bags and needing these qualities is pretty niche.“ (talking about household machines).

The dealer spent an hour explaining his recommendation—what a respectable dude! He repairs machines himself and offers fair pricing.

This is it. I‘m 100% sure that somewhere in the menu, this thing has a “Fly to the Moon” option:

Bag-making is such a rewarding craft, and not only with this machine which is on another level. It takes only a few days to go from sketch to finished product.

But to limit the amount of iterations, wasting materials, and spending hours cutting patterns, I wanted to learn another skill…

Virtual Tailoring with CLO 3D

During my time at Volkswagen I worked with many digital modeling tools. Learning CLO 3D (which is the same core as Marvelous Designer btw. For the nerds.) was a no brainer.

It allows you to design patterns of everything that needs sewing. With the press of a button it simulates material behavior and you can watch your piece come to life.

The only downside is that the physical interaction between soft and hard materials is quite buggy still. Something like testing belts running through hoops doesn’t work.

But anyway it speeds up the process a lot. Another mouse click and it prints a poster you can use cut your patterns in real life.

Documenting the Whole Process Online.

Why am I doing this? Three reasons:

1. Escaping the hamster wheel is hard. It’s hard to live a life full of motivation and sense of direction. I’d rather offer something to the world in exchange for money than offering something I don’t care about to some boss in exchange for a paycheck. It was hard for me, and if Volkswagen hadn’t laid us off, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to start this. I hope my work inspires others to take bold steps.

2. Writing helps me organize my brain. Documenting the process helps me strategize. Creating these posts and newsletters manifest the steps along the journey. Looking back at these newsletters in 10 years will be fascinating.

3. The world only talks about success stories. But the struggle behind success is more interesting to me. Success stories and even detailed biographies never really capture the truth. They glorify and pack everything to a well crafted drama. Experience is different, that‘s what I want to capture.

So follow me here and on Instagram.

Did you know that with the Substack App you can also see my „Notes“ with pictures and videos? If you‘re not on Instagram, you can also follow along like this.

Get more from Mathias Richter in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

To be honest, I’d love to delete Instagram one day—Substack feels way more chill. If Instagram is a stage, and you act out in front of an audience, Substack feels more like sitting around a campfire with friends.

Share Bagging For Business

My Next Steps

Branding

I have a long list of potential brand names and logo ideas. Soon, I want to hire a graphic designer to help me develop the branding. I‘m really looking forward to this one.

I waited with this because I wanted to find the characteristics of the brand by developing products. And the more bags I make the more I feel I get a sense of what my brand is going to be about.

I‘ll write another newsletter on these ideas in detail, but one thing will definitely be central to the brand: haptics.

Most of the bags I like using because of their concepts and functionality are made of plastic. You feel that hear the crackle touching the materials. I want my products to feel cozy and soft, but strong at the same time. That‘s why I started using upholstery textiles because they just feel very nice and are super robust. Let‘s see where further investigations will lead me.

Advanced Bag Making Course

I‘m pretty confident that my current sewing skill is enough to build prototypes. Especially because the serial product needs to be finalized together with the production facility anyway.

Still, I have this vision of immersing myself in traditional leatherwork—maybe in an old workshop in Italy, learning from a master craftsman.

There‘s still so much to learn, so many techniques I have no clue of, especially if you want to create life lasting gear.

Designing and Developing The First Products

My last poll was about finding out which of the 6 bag concepts I described are going to be made first.

If you haven’t voted yet, this is your last chance!

Three of the six lead the pack so I‘ll focus on all of them and share the process soon. I want to have a choice between three finished products. With your help I want to decide which of them will enter production and hoped to be financed by a crowd funding campaign.

Researching Suppliers and Manufacturers.

Local textile shops cater to hobbyists. It’s more than enough for the prototyping stages, but there’s not a big and high quality selection.

I need to connect with industrial suppliers for higher-quality materials and attend professional textile fairs.

Phew, that was a lot! But I hope you enjoyed this one!

Leave a comment

See you soon!

Should I focus on what people actually want, or should I create what my artistic instinct tells me to do?

This tension is everywhere—in art, in design, in business. It’s the classic struggle between personal expression and audience-driven creation. Every designer, artist, and entrepreneur faces it at some point. And in a world where extremes get the most attention, the truth—as always—lies in the balance.

The Reflex Against “Giving People What They Want”

Not long ago I saw a post on Substack outlining how to write a book in 30 days:

It made me angry.

It felt like an assembly line, a formula designed to chase trends instead of creating something meaningful. It played into my deepest frustration: the idea that creative work should be shaped entirely by what performs well, by what the audience reacts to, instead of by what truly matters.

But then I caught myself—why the reflexive hostility?

Because deep down, I want to believe that the best work comes from pure conviction, untouched by the market. That if you make something truly great, the right people will find it.

That‘s why I immedietly interpreted that the post wants me to chase an audience. Rage against other doctrines!

But it actually tells you to listen. It doesn’t say, „Alter your text!“ It says: „Your work can remain true to yourself, but you pay attention to what resonates.“

The audience determines value, not the creator.

The Misleading Divide Between Art and Design

Milton Glaser once made a blunt distinction between the roles of art and design:

“The purpose of art is to inform and delight. The purpose of design is to inform and make money.”

There’s truth in that. But also, it’s completely wrong.

Art can be commercial. Design can be deeply personal. The best work happens when you stop treating them as opposites.

Design exists to solve problems, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring or predictable. The best designers don’t just respond to constraints; they find creativity within them. I know many designers who even prefer to work within constraints. If you want to think outside the box, you need a box.

Business advice like “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” used to annoy me. It felt like giving in—like making things just to please people. Again it’s not about compromising your vision. It’s about understanding that you don’t decide what resonates. The audience does.

Can You Have It Both Ways?

Here’s a David Lynch (I will always cherish, RIP) in-your-face-quote:

“If you want to make a movie (or anything else), make something you really love. And then you stand the best chance that other people will love it, too.”

That’s the paradox. You have to create from a place of conviction—otherwise, your work is hollow. But if no one finds value in it, what’s the point?

So, how do you unite these forces?

1. Start with truth. Make what matters to you.

2. Listen to the response. Not to conform, but to understand.

3. Refine, but don’t pander. Use feedback to sharpen your vision, not dilute it.

4. Break the loop. Once you master a pattern, disrupt it and start again.

This applies whether you’re designing a bag, writing a book, or launching a startup. The craft must be personal, but its success depends on others seeing value in it.

I learned this lesson firsthand while developing a seat at Volkswagen. The original idea was simple but powerful—an ultra-lightweight sports car seat that adapted to the driver and the driving situation. It was pure, uncompromised, and sports car enthusiasts loved the concept.

Then came the push to make it work for a high-volume vehicle. It made sense on paper—if a design is good, why not scale it? So we adjusted the form, made compromises, and tried to fit it into a mass-market context.

It didn’t work.

The very essence of the seat—its agility, its responsiveness—was lost in the process. We hadn’t listened to actual customers; we had listened to internal voices that assumed there was a broader market for it. In the end, the original sports car version was the strongest because it stayed true to its purpose.

Start with truth, listen to the response. Refine but don‘t pander, and break the loop.

Breaking the loop is especially important. You have to come back to your artistic instinct. Try, fail, learn, but don’t become a slave of data analysis.

Harnessing the Creative Process

In theory, social media should allow for pure artistic expression, because they no longer have to rely on traditional gatekeepers—publishers, galleries, record labels, or other institutions. In practice, it’s a gravitational force pulling creators toward external validation. Metrics—likes, shares, engagement—become a substitute for meaning.

Still, creation can only exists in dialogue with the world. If a poet writes in a language no one speaks, is he still a poet? His words might beautiful, but to whom? We have to decide who we want to be; the one hoping others will learn your language, or the one translating it.

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.” - Rick Rubin

That’s the job. Everything else—recognition, sales, impact—is secondary. But if you want to grow, you have to observe. You have to test. You have to embrace feedback—not to change your vision, but to refine it.

Make What You Love AND Listen To What They Need

Design is like a gift. If you create only for yourself, it’s like giving someone an empty box. If you create only for function, it’s like giving a gift without thought or care. The best work considers both—the craft and the purpose, the heart and the hand.

No work is great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.

So create fearlessly. Listen carefully. And never stop rediscovering where the two meet.

Saying that to myself as well ;)

Remember the poll from last week? It’s still on, appreciating some help!

Vote on the Six Bag Concepts

Hier der Link zur deutschen Version.

That’s how many of you participated in my survey—way more than I expected! A huge thank you to all of you.

So, do I know which bag to develop first? Almost.

Your responses sparked so many ideas that it’s less about what to create and more about which one to start with. That’s why I think a vote is the best next step.

This newsletter dives deep into the survey insights. It might get a bit nerdy, but I hope you’ll find value in my thought process. Even if you’re not into the details, please cast your vote!

Also, I’d love your feedback on this approach. You’ll notice I ask myself a lot of questions—if you have answers, ideas, or just want to tell me I’m overcomplicating things, shoot! I’m figuring this out as I go.

Brand Visibility

Most of you recognized PinqPong, followed closely by Osprey.

PinqPong’s strong brand recognition comes down to two things:

1. A memorable logo – those dots stick in your mind.

2. A clear message – “Made from 100% recycled PET.”

Whether or not you see recycled polyester as greenwashing, the combination of a great logo and an eco-conscious status symbol has made them a success.

Osprey is a different story. Many of my friends—and therefore, many survey participants—are outdoor enthusiasts, but even beyond that, Osprey is a major name in the industry. In my view, they built their reputation by consistently delivering top-quality products, ranking high on “Best of” lists, and growing steadily through word-of-mouth.

A strong brand isn’t just about recognition—it’s about understanding your customers and where they shop. E.g. many survey participants struggled to find a great commuter bag. The issue isn’t a lack of options; it’s that these bags don’t exist in their usual bubbles, like outdoor retailers.

For me, it translates to this:

• Create products that truly solve problems.

• Communicate their purpose clearly.

• Identify where my audience is looking.

• Consistently exceed expectations.

If I get this right, I just might build a brand that sticks.

Practicality Is King

No surprise here—Practicality topped the “Buying Factors” section of the survey with 113 points.

I assigned:

3 points to “Can’t live without”

2 points to “Important”

1 point to “Why not”

Beautiful design came in second with 97 points, which, as a design enthusiast, makes me happy! But I know my bubble leans design-conscious, so I take this with a grain of salt.

The real debate starts between Multi-Purpose Use-Case (80 points) and Specific Use-Case (62 points). I’ve said it before: I want my products to solve real problems. But I need to be mindful—bags don’t always need an ultra-specific function. Most people don’t own separate bags for every situation. At the end of the day, a bag needs to carry stuff—plain and simple.

Water Resistance scored 64 points, which often means using plastic-based textiles and coatings. That’s a route I’d rather avoid. My focus is on natural materials, so this will be an interesting challenge.

Sustainable Materials followed closely with 61 points, while High-Tech Materials trailed with 42 points. To me, these two go hand in hand—I see them as tools for durability and longevity. A well-made bag that lasts and ages beautifully reduces waste. Many of you echoed this sentiment:

“Materials that age nicely and don’t fade in the sun, like leather.”

“Perhaps dirt could even enhance the look somehow…”

"There're enough backpacks to cover all needs."

That may be true, but there are still plenty of gaps…

• Why does water resistance mean sacrificing design? Heavy-duty zippers, plasticky materials, and complicated closures—can’t we just add a built-in rainfly instead?

• “I don’t want to look like a schoolgirl.” (Had to laugh at that one! 😂)

• “Backpacks aren’t stylish enough for a business setting.” A common concern.

• Quick access to essentials is still a major issue.

• People expect backpacks to be jack-of-all-trades.

• “Backpacks need to stand upright.” But they should also be soft and comfortable—finding that balance is tricky.

Lifetime Warranty vs. Easy Reparability

I have mixed feelings about this.

Take Peak Design, for example—they offer a lifetime warranty, which is one of the reasons I own some of their bags. But when I think about it, I’ve never actually claimed a warranty on anything, no matter the brand. Half the time, I don’t even register the product. If I’m honest, I’m usually eyeing the next, better thing anyway. Need to work on that.

That said, Peak Design builds their gear to last—you can feel it when you hold their products. I appreciate that, and it probably means I’ll never even need to use their warranty.

Then there’s repairability. Now that I know how to sew, I can handle fixes myself. But would I send a QWSTION bag all the way to Switzerland just to have them repair it? That’s what they offer, but I’m not sure many people would go through the hassle.

Maybe there’s a better way. I don‘t know if it involves offering Lifetime Warranty, but definitely build products that don’t need one, and make repairs simple and accessible. Local tailors exist, there are people who know how to sew, and we’re a connected society. The key is making repairs easy and visible to customers.

Could a brand app help? Would you install an app for a bag? - Maybe a QR code inside the bag that says, “Am I broken?” could direct people to repair options. Let’s see where this idea leads.

Interior Layout & Testing

Why do so few brands offer a look inside the bag? Why don‘t they show what you can pack?

I don‘t expect Prada to make a YouTube video on different loadouts. They probably don‘t need to because somebody already did that. But why not show that there‘s a sealed pocket inside for wallet and keys? Why not show that there‘s room for a toiletry pouch, a book, headphones and whatnot? I know people buy Prada bags for other reasons, but why not?

Or could there be a way to test bags before the actual purchase? Would customers want that? At least one in the survey did.

The Six Concepts

So, time for the fun stuff.

In one of the business books I‘m currently reading they say, don’t show sketches, test your ideas with words only, and see if it captures imagination. Well...

This poll is super quick. Only 6 bag ideas to rate. Done.

Six Concepts Poll

Send this poll to friends and family please, much appreciated. (There’s a

German version here as well)

More Insights

• Cleaning bags is an unsolved mystery.

• "Goes with anything" is an interesting need: Accessories need to subjugate the clothes, not vice versa.

• On a Backpack: "Accessible and secure pocket that doesn't poke when it's loaded."

• Bottles carried outside the bag give confidence that other items don't get wet by accident.

• Generally, no solution is wrong when it's satisfying somehow. Rolltop can be a hassle, but if the materials feel nice in the hand? - Closures can be complicated, but it might not bother when the use is tactile (Airpods etc.). This creates added value.

• Some just like the look of outdoor gear.

• There seems two types of people:

  1. If the product is desireable, price doesn't matter.

  2. Money is a measure of value, a bag should not cost more than its practicality justifies.

If you like reading this newsletter please like and share with others. That helps me a lot!

Hier findet ihr wieder die deutsche Version des Newsletters:

#3 auf deutsch

Still, it reassures me that another bag brand is not just wanted, but necessary. As soon as I‘ve worked through all the content I‘ll dedicate a whole newsletter recapping the survey. So stay tuned!

For those who haven’t participated yet, here‘s the link to the English & German versions.

Speaking of languages, many of you requested a German version of the newsletter, so you’ll now find a link to it at the bottom.

Es gibt jetzt auch eine deutsche Version! Ihr findet den Link jetzt immer ganz unten.

Struggling against comfort.

So far, building my own company has been a great learning experience. In particular, sewing—creating something physical and functional in a short amount of time—is incredibly satisfying.

But one of the biggest struggles I‘m dealing with right now is that I tend to plan too much.

„I definitely have to read that business book before making any moves.“

„I have to research the perfect way to start gathering followers on social media before making my first post.“

„Just one more YouTube video, I need more insights!“

I know it’s stupid.

Experience taught me times and times again that action always outperforms planning; but still I tend to slide into the trap that more information will make me more efficient. It does to a certain degree, but failure will always be the better teacher.

Simply consuming information feels comfortable. Planning creates the illusion of progress without requiring any real risk. Comfort is nice, failure on the other hand hurts; but it produces facts.

The other day, my girlfriend told me that Germany has one of the worst failure cultures in the world. A study ranked 61 countries, Germany crashed on 60th place.

Well, that explains a lot.

Many times I fell for the illusion that by preventing errors, I won't have errors to fix. It was the same when I worked for Volkswagen. Failure was generally not tolerated. Even though nobody actually said it out loud, the company culture made us act that way.

Failure is perceived as bad. You don‘t think that way? Great! But the world does for sure. Need proof? Type ‘fail’ when looking for an emoji on your phone.

Fail to progress.

“You can't experience success without failure. If you avoid failure, you will also avoid success.”

I watched a business class hosted by the founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely. She told the story that her father asked her and her siblings the same question every night before bed: “What did you fail at today? He never asked for their achievements.”

Sara grew up believing that her father cared more about what went wrong and how she planned to improve than about her successes. Ironically she describes this upbringing around failure as the single most important skill to becoming successful as an entrepreneur.

So the guide I pinned on my wall is quite simple:

1. Take action

2. Fail

3. Assess

4. Adjust

5. Try again

Sooner or later I‘ll develop the muscle that dealing with failure is something to strive for. It becomes just another step in the process, something you‘re happy about whenever it happens.

Nonetheless, failure does zero if you don’t learn from it. It seems obvious but there‘s a lot to consider.

The first conclusions we draw from our failures (and even successes) are typically wrong. Measuring the outcome without evaluating the process can be deceiving.

Translated it means: Ask questions, listen and read between the lines. Find your personal approach to make better the next time.

The world tells you which direction to go.

If you know 1 + 1 = 2 and the world insists it's 3, you have to let it be, despite your brain. The same applies to your plans and ideas: you won’t truly know what works until you put them out into the world.

That’s why I’ve decided to be fully transparent while building my business. Your needs and feedback will shape my direction. Instead of over-planning, I’ll focus on action, learning, and adjusting along the way.

I’ll leave you with this quote:

Deutsche Version

I’m in trying to build my own company and it’s going to be all about bags.

It’s been a month surviving in the Post-Volkswagen-Era. You might not know, so in short: End of last year they closed the design studio in Potsdam where I worked for more than 10 years. Even shorter: I lost my job.

But I’m fine. I consider myself lucky actually, because I don’t know if I would have had the guts to just quit my job to pursue my dreams.

I’ve been torn away from the comfort of that Volkswagen mother tit and thrown out of her house. That’s what life can be like; not this trouble-free slide from great parents, over behaved friends, good education, to a well-payed job I had the privilege of doing. Thanks for that by the way.

The first thing I knew from the start is that I want to build my own thing, no sucking anymore, no fullfilling somebody elses goals, and definitely not trading time for a paycheck I have no control of.

Actually, “pursue my dreams” sounds like ChatGPTrash. It seems grandiose but it doesn’t make sense. Founding a business is not about my dreams, it’s about yours. I want to offer something that enriches your life.

I believe in the balance of having to give something to get something. To create value for others is the key to leading a valuable life, enjoy fulfiment.

Why bags you might ask?

For a few simple reasons:

• I’m a product designer with over 10 years of experience. Creative problem solving is what I’m proficient in.

• I’m a storyteller. During my time at the Volkswagen Group I founded an internal agency, that produced dozens of films to communicate projects.

• I’ve worked together with and learned from exceptionally talented people who I’m proud to call friends.

• And there’s something about bags that makes me excited about this whole thing like a child.

So, what’s in it for you?

If you’re into bags; are interested in learning about the design process and the development up to a finished product; and interested in building a business yourself, but want me to do the failing and learn from my mistakes:

I’ll document it all.

But first I have to learn from you, I need your help. Check out the little survey “Let’s talk bags” I’ve created; and very important, if you know someone that would be interested in the topic, forward it. I’d appreciate a lot!

Links to survey:

English Version

Deutsche Version

See you soon!