Designed for performance down to the last detail, the launch of On bags has been in the making for about four years. Read what it took to get here with Director of Design Direction, Lorena Vonk and Accessories Creation Sr. Lead, Lexi Beeken.
1. Accessories is an emerging piece of On’s product offering. How has the team and this space developed over the last years?
Lorena: It all started within the umbrella of Apparel. We had a few headwear items and some socks to cover the base needs. At this time Footwear was already quite evolved, Apparel was on the rise and it was just the next natural step to think of Accessories. We decided to build a small team out of the Design team. We hired product managers, developers and designers. We all sat together and operated as a little start-up within the brand. Those were such exciting times and set an amazing foundation for a great and collaborative team structure.
Lexi: I couldn't agree more. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to be part of something from the early stages – even as we’ve grown over the years we’ve remained an agile and closely connected team. We transitioned out from the small start-up setup a few years ago and now mirror the footwear and apparel R&D functional setup.
2. How did the creative vision for bag collection come together?
Lorena: It’s probably one of the most exciting moments in the career of us designers if you’re asked to set the design language for a new field. As always at On, we were trying to look at things differently. After a lot of research, market analysis and understanding how we can make a difference, we built out our narrative. It led us back to our Swiss roots, the Alps and perhaps there was even a storytelling link to some old smuggling routes in the mountains that brought some rope inspiration with it.
3. What goes into developing a bag from scratch? Where did you see an opportunity to take a risk and experiment?
Lexi : Since we weren’t just developing a bag from scratch, we were in the beginnings of a brand new product field, this meant firstly finding new partners who could support us to realize our vision and come on this exciting journey with us!
Once we had established a supply base, we began working with our new manufacturing partner in Vietnam, sampling multiple prototype iterations and collaborating with our wear testing team to get our samples out in the elements and gather feedback and insights from our On testers. Alongside this, we developed materials and trims in line with the design vision, this gave us the possibility to partner globally with producers in Switzerland, Germany, Korea and China. We were able to experiment with a multitude of materials, taking risks on fabric applications, putting them into wear testing, seeing areas of improvement and then looping back to experiment again. It was a really exciting time for all of us.
4. What makes an On bag unique? (Any favorite features?)
Lorena: In general we always aim to design high quality, highly functional and premium products that go in hand with our sustainability strategy. This made us question every detail and led us not only to use a super high-quality rope but also to partner with a manufacturer here in Switzerland. So all the ropes on the bags are engineered and manufactured in Switzerland. And all of that links back to our initial storytelling that I mentioned before. It’s a full circle.
Lexi: The Fidlock buckles for me are really a stand-out piece, we worked with the Fidlock team in Germany to develop a brand new buckle, using their expertise on magnet closures together with our design and user vision, we were able to develop a buckle that truly enhances the overall user experience of our Elite range.
5. Looking ahead, how do you see the accessories space progressing?
Lorena: Everything we do is of course super strongly connected to our overall product vision at On. Accessories in itself though really bring that extra layer to our head-to-toe stories and complete our full looks in the best way possible. So we will continue working closely with footwear and apparel to make this a success, right Lexi?
Lexi: Absolutely! The team is working on a lot of newness in the accessory space. We will launch more bags, expanding the pack collection across our communities. Also the team have designed and developed a new sock range for SS25 which we are really excited about launching, and of course you can expect to see more accessory collaborations with our key partners as we grow this category.
