When you travel by metro or bus, when you walk down the street, in the halls of college, in the shopping malls... And on social media. And best of all, you ask whoever you ask, no one knows how to pronounce his name or where they come from. We talk about the backpacks that from time to time we see hanging on the backs of many people, both young and old, whose most distinctive symbol is a logo with a polar fox.
And we say that his name is unpronounceable because it is. These are the Fjällräven Kanken, the backpacks that have become famous without a very specific reason, as they do not have a very striking design or any very remarkable element. If anything, its functionality, because it is the typical SUV backpack that is good for going to class, traveling or hiking. And that is precisely its origin, nature and countryside. Because few know that behind the backpacks of the strange name (they are actually called Kanken) there is a lot of history.
It is a Swedish brand-hence its complicated name-born in 1960, so we are talking about a firm with almost half a century of history, even now when it has become fashionable fueled by social media, which are the ultimate channel for getting something to reach the public. Its creator was Åke Nordin, a businessman who started this firm of equipment and outdoor clothing based on his own experience as a mountaineer.
At the age of 14, the young Nordin went on a trip to the mountain and the experience ended up being a fiasco for the team he was wearing, in particular, the backpack. After investigating, he learned that the weight of the pack pack should be placed on top and near the spine, so he was encouraged to make his own with his mother's sewing machine from resistant cotton.
An invention that ended up in business 10 years later and starting as many of the most famous entrepreneurs of today, in the basement of their home. In addition, he joined the backpacks with another type of outdoor equipment after passing through military service, where he realized that paratroopers needed functional and durable outdoor equipment. Thus, he diversified his business and his brand grew, producing all kinds of mountain clothes (jackets, pants, jerseys...), tents and sleeping bags.
It should be noted that the price of the famous backpacks is not accessible to all pockets. Because, despite not being a luxury product by far, it distanced itself from the 'low cost' pattern that dominates current consumption. The famous backpacks have different prices, depending on their size and components. The cheapest costs €79.95, and the most expensive are €169.95.
Por lo tanto, se trata de un complemento para expertos o personas que practican deportes de montaña habitualmente. Pero el hecho de que su uso se haya extendido hasta llegar a moda ha hecho que muchas tiendas hayan empezado a sacar sus propias copias más baratas. Por ejemplo, en Pull&Bear -firma de Inditex- tienen un modelo prácticamente igual a 17,95 euros -ya se sabe que la especialidad de este grupo es dar al público la posibilidad de tener las tendencias que se ven en las pasarelas o los productos más caros a precios más asequibles-.
But behind the Kanken price is an explanation that goes beyond purely commercial. Their philosophy is 100% ecological, as they proclaim themselves, because their mission is to inspire people to love and spend more time in nature by providing them with the best equipment for their safety that, moreover, is in line with that environment. In other words, it does not use harmful materials to manufacture its products.
In this way, the Swedish firm works with organic and recycled fabrics free of PFCs, a chemical with impermeable and non-adherent properties found in a multitude of clothes-especially that of this type of activity-and which is highly toxic. Thus, they work with recycled cotton and wool or Tencel, a 100% natural vegetable fiber that is obtained from wood pulp-just like cotton-and which, for example, Zara already uses.
Despite so many years of history, Fjällräven Kanken has found, thanks to its backpacks and the thrust of the 'millennials', its moment in the 21st century. So, you already have more than 50 models of your famous product and your numbers keep growing. In Spain, where it arrived only six years ago, it experienced a 45% growth in 2016-no more data was provided-and expects to continue to grow by more than 30% every year until 2020. And everything, thanks to a simple backpack.
