Busy Autumn in the Swiss Alps!
10/25/07
Autumn time. High above the valley of Visp, 1500 m above Mean Sea Level, in the small, 500 inhabitant village of Törbel in Haut Valais the sewing-machines are rattling at full speeds. In a saddlery, where until quite recently, bell straps, horse bridles and belts were manufactured – mostly for the Swiss Army – 11 employees are working overtime in order to fill the many incoming retailer & trade orders from all over the world. With the “Swiss Army Recycling Collection” they are delivering a piece of Swiss history into the world. Living accessories, rucksacks, brief cases, bum bags, messenger bags, shoppers, body bags, spectacle cases and wallets – the collection has grown to more than 50 different articles by now. Each piece is made by caring hands.
The stuff dreams are made of: The basis material of the collection are the hand felted blankets of the Swiss Army, which have been resting in the armouries since 1969. Raspy, coarse, brown-grey coloured, long stored and nearly forgotten, they are – as well as disused leather rifle slings and belts – now rising like a phoenix and celebrate their resurrection as highly fashionable accessories, thanks to Titus Karlen’s saddlery. Whether with shoulder strap or handle, as rucksack with rugged leather straps or as diary with up-to-date calendar – the saddlery in Törbel is practicing recycling in a trendy way. The white cross on red background is the common trademark of all articles. Woven into the brown-grey woolen fabric of the posher models, the felt cross is sewn on the smaller articles. For those who believe that the Swiss design of Törbel’s wool blanket production is only favoured among the patriotic Swiss people, is far from it!: The “Swiss Army Recycling Collection” sells like hotcakes in Japan and enjoys a huge demand in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia. Even the USA show interest in the trendy pieces. Only recently one of the leading London investment banks placed their order. As Karlen agreed to render possible a delivery of 50 unique bags and hence burned the midnight oil – the bags arrived at London’s City Square within 10 days. Even the former Russian Presdident Gorbatchev, who was attending the London financial symposium as speaker, witnessed when all the invited international top private-wealth customers accepted with pleasure a very unique present from the Swiss alps. The discovery, that each bag had a unique character of its own led to an unanimous enthusiasm among the attendees. Prerequisite for an owner’s pride which cannot be rivalled by any of the pricy pieces from the Parisien Champs Elysées.
Normally life in Törbel has its own steady pace though. And that’s why retailers accept to wait 5-6 months for their order to be fulfilled. Today the saying “Good things come to those who wait” is as true as it was in the olden days: Only a carefully manufactured product satisfies the customer in the long run.
Additionally, Titus Karlen, aged well over 70, wouldn’t dream of outsourcing the production of his collection to satisfy the ever growing demand. “Never ever”, he says in his resolute manner, as handcraft and recycling will always remain to be the leading principles and quality characteristics of his products: “The production of bulk goods is out of question!”. Moreover, each piece of the collection has its unique character. Each blanket has a history of its own, each belt and strap likewise: “I can’t think of a ladies name that we haven’t found written or carved into the leather straps” the saddler smiles.
Since this year’s summer Karlen and his team were industriously producing the large order of Fair-kaeuflich.DE. Only a couple of days ago, the time had come, the delivery from Haut Valois arrived.
In case your desire has grown even more to call one of these treasures your own or to make an extra-special Christmas present … we recommend you act quickly. As proven over the last years it’s as usual the early bird that catches the worm!
We are well stocked at the moment but experience shows that the first shortages could occur in November for one or the other model. The whole Swiss Army Recycling Collection can be viewed and ordered here.
See you! Yours, Ingo
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