PACT

When we first conceived of PACT, we were excited about finding a way to do something truly custom with each piece. This led to the creation of the PactMark, the 28-dot visual pattern that would become a unique "brand" for each PACT member. We knew that the complexity level was going to be extremely high, but as we began to implement the system we had devised, we began to feel the true pain of what we'd set out to do.

Like any small manufacturing company, we know we have to be extremely streamlined to survive. And yet we'd given ourselves a feature that required an insane level of technical, procedural, and manufacturing complexity. We could certainly pull it off, but the idea of efficiency would be out the window. It became obvious that this one feature was going to swallow up ridiculous resources to produce and manage.

Even more significantly, to avoid outrageous international rates, we need to be able to utilize shipping and warehousing solutions overseas, and these simply don't work with the kind of one-off custom pieces that we would be producing. 

So, after agonizing for weeks over how we might be able to pull it all off, we made the hard decision to remove the PactMark from the equation.

It’s been a while since you last heard from us and it is definitely time for an update! Apart from waiting for leather to arrive, we have been hard at work designing and creating the packaging that will accompany each piece, designing and building a gorgeous new website that we'll unveil soon, and organizing the various details that go into setting up a new company. 

Leather #1 — Natural

We have recently received our first shipment of leather! This batch, produced by the 133 year-old Hermann Oak Leather Company in St. Louis, is the beautiful undyed vegetable-tanned leather that we've dubbed "Natural." We had hoped to deliver these pieces by the end of September, however the leather took a bit longer to procure than we expected and we still have some production details to iron out. We'll begin cutting and assembling soon, and at this point we are hopeful that we can ship the Natural pieces by the end of October (although we aren’t yet ready to declare an exact date just yet).

Leather #2 — Cognac

The second batch of leather we've been waiting on—the Cognac—is the sumptuous dark brown vegetable-tanned goodness produced by the esteemed Horween Leather Co. in Chicago. We recently had the opportunity to meet with the head of Horween and tour their hundred year old tannery facilities. They assured us that our leather is right on schedule, which means that we should be receiving it around the end of October. This will put us right on track for our projected mid/late November ship dates for the Cognac pieces.

When Ben Delaney & Darrin Griechen connected with me, asking me to check out their Kickstarter project for PACT, I was a little hesitant. After to all, I’ve featured a lot of leather goods on the LAB and the idea that anyone could reinterpret or reinvent the iStuff carrying case concept beyond what I’ve seen already, is pretty slim. Then I watched the video: …Sold!

The PACT Satchel.

Minimalism that runs deep.

No stitching.

No glue. 

No buckles or clasps or zippers.

No logo.