A functional, durable, sustainable backpack for the modern lifestyle.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
That's a wrap on Kickstarter. The biggest thank you to everyone for backing, sharing, and spreading the word as far as possible. We can’t begin to express our gratitude. Together, we’ve achieved over 1,500% of our funding goal with more than 39,000 plastic bottles saved. That’s all thanks to you.
On that note, we didn’t quite reach some of our stretch goals and we’ve been getting a lot of comments and messages asking us to go through with these updates anyway. We love everyone’s enthusiasm!
These suggested improvements were products of your questions and recommendations, so it’s only right to deliver on your great ideas as a thank you for your unwavering support. We’re pleased to officially share that all W.F.A Backpacks will come with a luggage strap and will be available in Slate Green.
We’re in the process of finalizing a few details. After, we’ll send out a survey to collect all your order details – color choices, customization options, shipping info, and any other add-ons you might want to add to your orders.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on any major updates about your W.F.A Backpack, all the way to when it finally gets to you.
Thank you again for everyone’s support, we can’t say it enough. We’re overjoyed to be making W.F.A Backpack a reality and we’ll be sure to make it to the highest standard of quality. Because you deserve only the best.
The Native Union Team
You guys are full of great ideas! We've been taking note of everything and confirming with our team the feasibility of your suggestions in terms of design and production. We're excited to finally announce our three stretch goals as well as answer some quality questions.
€150,000: Plant-based Leather – UNLOCKED
Thanks to all your support, we unlocked this stretch goal before we even got to announce it. In time for Earth Month, we're happy to share that we'll be replacing all recycled leather elements of W.F.A Backpack with Yatay™, a plant-based alternative that uses less water and energy to produce in comparison to genuine leather.
On top of being the more sustainable choice, it's the more long-lasting one too. An innovative material developed in a partnership between Coronet and Golden Goose, Yatay™ is five times more durable than PU leather alternatives.
€200,000: Luggage Strap – LOCKED
This one was a surprisingly popular request! So at €200,000 funding, we'll be adding a luggage strap to all W.F.A Backpacks. What's more, it doubles as a place to tuck away your straps for more comfortable tote carry as many of you have also asked for. Two birds, one stone.
And we're almost there, so if you want to travel with ease or carry tote-style without worrying about your straps getting dirty, then please keep sharing our page with your friends and family!
€250,000: Slate Green – LOCKED
We sent out a survey asking you how you feel about a new Slate Green color and it was met with a positive response. We're officially adding it to the pipeline!
But as this requires more development, testing, and minimum order quantities, there are two caveats – first, delivery for a Slate Green version will be later than the July shipping date for other colors, and second we need to meet a minimum amount of funding for production to be viable.
So if you want your W.F.A Backpack in Slate Green, please keep spreading the word so we can make this color a reality.
Tried and Tested
Now, for some answers on durability. We designed W.F.A Backpack to be something you carry with you everyday so it's only right that it lives up to that standard.
We've thoroughly tested W.F.A Backpack against various industry standards:
Add in a Water Repellency Test, a Color Fastness Test, a Torque Test and more, you know we put in the work so your W.F.A Backpack can ride with you for years.
Stain-free Straps
A few of you have expressed concerns about the strap color being white and prone to dirt and stains. Just like the canvas areas of the backpack, the cotton straps have a water resistant coating that makes it less susceptible to dirt. And thanks to this coating, in the rare event it does attract some dirt, it'll rub right off.
But we understand your concern in the long run so we've tested out several shades to find one that'll ease your worries, while still maintaining that visual color contrast.
We've updated the strap color of the W.F.A Backpack to a slightly darker hue that's more of a natural beige shade. We've got you!
Zipper Improvements
In full transparency, we had already identified a point of improvement on initial samples of W.F.A Backpack. The leather pull tab attached to the zippers were not up to our standards.
Thankfully, swapping all leather elements to Yatay™ has helped with that. With a new and improved Yatay™ zipper pull tab, we were able to bond the tab more securely for zipping to be a lot more seamless.
We're stoked about everyone's enthusiasm in coming up with suggestions and questions. We're happy to see all this constructive feedback – it's why we love Kickstarter. Thanks again for all your support and please continue sharing W.F.A Backpack!
The Native Union Team
One week in and we're still reeling from the endless support. Over 1,200% backed and a Kickstarter 'Project We Love'! A thousand times thank you.
We've been getting a few requests for additional colors. We hear you, and we're working with our team to see if this is possible. The good news? We're in talks about producing a Slate Green version of W.F.A Backpack. The bad news? It'll come with some delays.
So we need your help to figure out if it's worth the wait. While we'll be sending out an official survey at the end of the campaign for you to pick your colors and customization options for your backpack, we'd be grateful if you could fill out a quick one here so we can gauge the demand for each color.
Thanks in advance for filling in the survey. Your responses will help determine our stretch goals (we're announcing them soon, we promise!) as well as get a head start on production.
Once again, thank you for all your amazing support!
The Native Union Team
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.