User talk:VF Corporation - Eastpak

Update Eastpak Wikipedia page
Dear Frze,

First of all nice to meet you. My name is Lieselot Velter and I work for Eastpak headquarters.

I would like to send you my sincere apologies regarding the editing of the Eastpak page.

I had no idea at the time how inappropriate the edits were, but I would like to do it right.

Our aim is to inform everyone about Eastpak in a non-subjective and neutral way. As a brand we have a nice history and story to tell that we would like to share, without it being a promotional text.

Furthermore we receive a lot of requests of students to send them more information about the brand because the information online is too limited.

Below you may find the information we would like to update. I deleted several sentences to make it a more neutral tex, but please feel free to give any comments or suggestions.

We would also like to upload some new photos. Pleas let me know if you want me to send them to you.

Please feel free to contact me or my colleague at any time: lieselot_velter@vfc.com mieke_windey@vfc.com

I'm looking forward to your answer.

Thank you!

Kind regards, Lieselot



Intro
Eastpak is a lifestyle brand founded in Boston, USA, specializing in the design, development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing and distribution of a range of products including bags, backpacks, travel gear and accessories. The company began as Eastern Canvas Products USA, Inc. in 1952, producing bags and packs for the US military before focusing more fully on the consumer market under the brand name Eastpak as of 1976.

Origins and History
‘’’Eastpak Authentic Since 1952’’’

Eastpak was founded in 1952 by Monte Goldman as Eastern Canvas Products USA Inc.. Early activities included the manufacture of a line of duffel bags, backpacks and safety equipment for the US Army. The company direction changed dramatically, however, when Monte’s son Mark Goldman joined the company in 1976. He transformed the company’s retail product line into a fully-fledged consumer brand and launched the first line-up of bags and packs at a sportswear trade fair in Chicago in 1977. Norman Jacobs joined the company in 1980 and together with partner, Mark Goldman, claimed a market-leading share of the US college market on the East Coast throughout most of the 1980s and early 1990s.

1952: More than 60 years ago Eastpak was called Eastern Canvas Products Inc. and made bags for the U.S. military.

1976: “Out of the woods and into the city.” Mark Goldman joined his father’s company and transformed the old firm into a genuine lifestyle brand for college.

1985: Eastpak was the first brand to print nylon fabrics in four colors offering a wide range of prints.

1999: The wheeled Warehouse was the first trolley providing the traveler enough space for all of his/her needs.

2003: First designer collab. The Dutch tattoo artist Hendrikus (“Hanky Panky”) Johannes Everhardus Schiffmacher took the iconic Eastpak backpack to the next level.

2004: First fashion collab. Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck was inspired by unusual color combinations and strong graphic influences to reinterpret the classic Padded Pak’r.

2013: Eastpak continues to reinvent his bags, packs and all sorts of gear for folks who work and play in the city.

International Expansion
Eastpak’s first export markets were in Asia, with early successes in Japan, Korea, Singapore and the Philippines.

Eastpak was first introduced onto the European market in 1986 by the Frenchman Kostia Belkin. He met with Mark Goldman and Norman Jacobs in Boston who convinced him to start distributing Eastpak products in Europe. The brand succeeded in gaining a foothold in Paris almost instantly with the first products selling out within days of the launch. Other countries soon followed and successful collaborations with brands such as Airwalk saw Eastpak tap other corners of the market as well.

Brand Evolution
In 1985 Eastpak introduced bright colors and prints to the bags collections, cementing the brand’s evolution from an outdoor brand to an urban lifestyle brand. The company retained its image and reputation for quality and durability by also becoming the first bags brand to offer a lifetime warranty on its products (for legal reasons, the warranty is limited to 30 years). The evolution towards a bolder, more original style was also matched in the mid-1980s by increasingly provocative advertising campaigns featuring, e.g. the controversial comic-book character Andy Capp. Eastpak entered the luggage market in 1999 with the first wheeled trolley produced for the consumer market. The brand was acquired by VF Europe in 2000.

Logo and Brand Identity
The Eastpak logo has been updated 3 times over the course of the brand’s history, most recently in 2014. The new logo was introduced as part of a new brand identity which better reflects Eastpak’s clear, simple, and contemporary vision on urban mobility.



Products
Eastpak’s product portfolio includes a wide range of shoulder bags, backpacks, duffel bags, travel gear and accessories. Available in a large range of styles, colors, prints, and fabrics, the collections are seasonal and are designed for maximum coordination.

Padded Pak’r
Arguably the brand’s most popular and easily recognized product, the Padded Pak’r has remained virtually unchanged in form since its development in 1976. As early advertising claimed, the Padded Pak’r comes with a padded back. The bag was the first of its kind to offer a padded back and shoulder straps. Today, the Padded Pak’r is just one of many backpack styles sold by Eastpak around the world and comes with different features such as a laptop sleeve and multi-purpose pockets and pouches.

In addition to the iconic Padded Pak’r, Eastpak has produced over hundreds of different styles of daypacks and shoulder bags and was the first company to produce a single-strapped shoulder bag.

Travel gear
Eastpak was also the first company to produce wheeled luggage for the consumer market.



Since then, the company has significantly expanded its range of travel gear ranging from uncomplicated, single-volume holdalls to two and even four-wheeled trolleys with single or dual compartments, in a range of sizes from strict carry-on to standard carry-on and larger. Most styles integrate other design features such as adjustable shoulder straps, organizer pouches, laptop and multimedia sleeves, expansion zips and straps, “add-a-bag” loops and security lock rings.

Returnity Collection
To mark 35 years since the launch of the Eastpak consumer brand, a limited number of reproduction Padded Pak’r backpacks were released in 2011 under the “Returnity” collection. Along with faithful reproductions of the original Padded Pak’r backpack using the same heavy-duty canvas, leather, and color scheme, the collection included new styles in the same spirit of the brand’s very first collection.



Projects
Eastpak has either sponsored or directly organized a range of projects including the Antiz Hobo skateboarding tour, the Happy New Year Party marking the start of the school/academic year in the northern hemisphere in September, the Antidote punk rock tour, the Ed Banger tour and Eastpak Artist Studio.

Eastpak Artist Studio
Founded in 2012,Eastpak Artist Studio invites artists, designers, and other creative personalities from around the world to customize, reinvent and/or transform limited edition blank Padded Pak’r backpacks into unique, original artworks which are later auctioned off for charity. Since the seminal edition, all proceeds of the sales have gone to the charity organization Designers Against AIDS in an attempt to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS.



Designer Collaborations
Eastpak engaged in its first designer collaboration in 2003 with the Dutch tattoo artist Hendrikus (“Hanky Panky”) Johannes Everhardus Schiffmacher. The first fashion collaboration followed a year later in 2004 with the Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck. Since then, Eastpak has produced collections in collaboration with renowned designers including Kris Van Assche, Christopher Shannon, Nicomede Talavera, Gaspard Yurkievich, Raf Simons and many others.