I just drove 6hrs back home after having personally quality checked, packed and shipped all preorders for the ATD1 4th production run, as i always do. Ok, i admit, i stopped some hours at the beach while on the road, since Milan lacks the sea and any chance is a good one, but this is still a decompression moment. In the middle of a global pandemic, we launched 3 small accessories (in 7 sizes totally), a wonderful tote that was just reviewed by Carryology, and started the biggest production run we have ever done for the ATD1 backpack. It sounded crazy at the beginning, felt crazy in the process, and actually was crazy after all.
As with other production runs, this is the best time to breath and think about the direction future steps should take.
Part of last shipping round
First of all, i will not release so many products at the same time anymore: it made sense in this particular situation to optimize raw materials orders, stock accessories and use the lockdown time to work on more products but, for the future, i'll launch one or two bags at a time, at least twice a year.
The area around our manufacturing partner's facility
Another important thing to consider is ATD1 backpack's pricing. At the beginning of this project i was stuck in the the paradox of trying to set a price that people would have paid for a premium object constructed with large amounts of raw materials, laser cut fabrics, almost paranoid attention to details but at the same time launched by an unknown company and exactly developed to drag less attention while traveling to nasty locations and not be perceived as an expensive luggage by average people. This backpack does not come cheap and, both industrially and commercially speaking, It had to be priced at a higher price point from the beginning but i admit that i didn't know if i would have been able to let people feel the value of the product, or if i would have been able to build enough trust around the new born company. In other words, i was scared.
Now, with positive feedback about our customer service, lots of returning customers i am in personal contact with, almost zero returned bags, a product that effortlessly covers the need for at least two bags and the really low number of second hand ATD1s sold on the web to prove customers feel it like a good purchase, it is time to officially announce that this was the last run of ATD1 backpacks sold at the actual price and that, starting from the next run, its price will increase at least 30%. Both its development, the chosen materials and the manufacturing process really make this pack worth the expense.
Continuous improvement
Last but not least, the ATD2. Customers asked for a smaller version of the ATD1 backpack since the beginning of this journey, being it for shorter trips, smaller sized torsos or lighter carry. The ATD2 is in early prototyping stage but now i will focus on it and i'm confident that it will be launched within the end of 2022 Q1, along with a couple small accessories. And YES, there will be (at least) a laminated version.