Carryology visits Visvim’s headquarters (Free International Laboratory or F.I.L.) in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, Japan…
…they didn’t allow us to take any photos of their carry products and did not want to speak about their backpacks with us whatsoever.
That is all.
Taylor's designed for countless carry brands, across every carry category, he’s contributed to the lost art of manly moustaches, and earned a reputation for reviews that keep our core carry nuts learning.
Latest posts by Taylor Welden (see all)
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Hehehe :]
ouch.. come by to Malaysia and I’ll take you guys for lunch!
Ditto here. Should you ever find yourself stranded in Norway, there’ll be lunch and carry geeking waiting for you at our design workshop.
Hey Joey, I had the pleasure of being in Norway last year about this time. Beautiful country. I’d love to come back for another visit and to talk shop with you at the Bergans workshop sometime to get our carry geeking on. Thanks for the invite, much appreciated.
Welcome back at anytime, Taylor!
And if I can insert a shameless plug here; if you find yourself at Outdoor Retailer Summer in Salt Lake this August -make sure you pop by the Bergans booth and try on a new pack called “Glittertind” -it’s a trekking pack that carries like nothing else you’ve tried
Awesome Patrick, thanks for the invite man.
Corporate espionage? Cultural barriers? Paranoia? Division of Scientology? Front for Yakuza? Product marketing through ultra-secrecy?
Why?
Plain snobbery, I suppose. Lame.
I literally spent the better part of an afternoon traveling to their store in a foreign country to highlight their brand (which I had never seen in the flesh before, I’ll admit). Being that we’re a site dedicated to carry, I’d think their attitude should’ve been a bit more positive, especially as I explained the article would be focusing on their brand in a great light.
Until further notice, I won’t be suggesting their products anymore, which truly is a bummer. There are so many other great brands out there that deserve credit and customers, and they’re happy to earn it.
During my undergrad years, I worked part-time for a famous Italian Designer clothing company which catered to A-List Celebs, Pat Riley and Hedge Fund gurus. They were paranoid about their corporate image. They wanted to be “accessible” but to a certain point.
The Employee Manual was about the length of “War and Peace”. It covered everything from proper etiquette in dealing with the humorless, stuck-up clientele to appropriate hair style during work hours.
There was also a designated “list” of Fashion Reporters we could accept calls and in-house visits from. And at which point, they’ll be funneled up to the in-house PR person.
Everyone else was ignored. Local papers, Students studying Fashion Design, etc. The company’s attitude was that it didn’t want to saturate the market with over-exposure and secondly, it only wanted to target the affluent clients. Be all things to ‘select’ people, in other words.
I’m not sure how I feel about this since negative experiences could tarnish an otherwise sterling reputation. What if a commoner scores a truck load of cash later in life through savvy portfolio management in his investments and has the disposable coin to buy a few suits?
In the market for bags and luggage, there are plenty of small, indie shop proprietors who are just clamoring for attention. I’d say give them the time and podium.
There are also plenty of responsible big companies with an excellent track record of service like my all time fave Patagonia.
Also something to ponder on, the Japanese are very insular and tribal especially to Gaijins.
I’d caution against your generalization based on the stereotypical “Japanese are xenophobic” line. When I visited the Vic2 store in Tokyo, they let me handle the bags, take as many pictures as I wanted – even gave my wife and I some freebies. Visvim is a high-price brand, and I am willing to bet it was much more based on elitism than racial interaction.
Speaking of Vic2, though. My god. For being such a small shop they had an amazing selection. RELoad, Lazy Monk, Resistant, Beruf, Frederik Packers, Chrome, Mission Workshop…even Boblbee! blown away by their selection. Check em out if you’re near Akihabara.
My guess is elitism or the idea that a product brand could be created through the perception of exclusivity. The less it’s accessible, the more consumers would want it.
It can backfire. See: Facebook IPO.
I wouldn’t put too much stock on the alternative explanation but it’s not something I would casually dismiss because of political correctness. It’s a minor issue but it’s still part of Japanese society.
I’ve experienced the good and the bad over there.
It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility, but you’ll have to forgive me. My actual experience in Japan is limited to two weeks on my honeymoon last year, but I’ve seen people dismiss the Japanese as xenophobic for years without any nuance or context, and so it’s hard to separate that from the legitimate suggestion of the tribalism that I’m sure is a very real part of Japanese culture.
My wife and I experienced a few… puzzling episodes while in Japan that I am sure could have been caused by distrust of non-Japanese. But even if this sort of thing is a “part of Japanese society” my (limited) sample of Japanese culture indicated that it was such an infinitesimal part of the culture as to be not worth noting. In any given two-week period, I experience harsher treatment here in the US.
My point is only that since the Japanese have a reputation for being insular, it seems like people are pretty quick to ascribe any indication of such as evidence reinforcing that reputation. Let’s be honest – there are plenty of companies in every country in the world that would reject a blogger’s attempt to cover their work.
And how is this company doing now Andrew? Are they around? If they are as big and famous as you say they were, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are still thriving. It’s like saying Bugatti won’t open their doors to the Florida Daily Sound. I think they’ll survive.
Lol thats a damn shame, would have been cool to see inside!!!! Pretty damn pretentious though eh?
I was fortunate enough to get a ballistic cordura 28L Visvim four years ago for £200. Its lovely but I fail to see how they now think they can charge £600 for a 21L one thats made out of bloody corderoy (hideously impractical) or even £800 for a Konbu nylon one!
It appears that perhaps their attitude sucks, as do their prices.
Bring on the TAD fastpack instead……
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Absolutely pretentious. Shame, I was stoked to visit their HQ and expected nothing but positivity (which every single other brand I’ve met with personally and/or professionally has shown, in spades). Not these guys.
If you ever come near The Bagcave I’ll be forced to fire on you from the workshop mounted gun turrets!
Nobody will ever see what happens in the lab…you hear me? NOBODY!!!
oh bummer! A little exposure wouldn’t hurt would it? isn’t this the same thing they try to portray in their summit papoose video?
I do have a lamina 20l enroute gonna put it thru the paces of everyday use of travel, coffee shop, and edc roles
this holier than thou attitude is something i don’t support about certain labels. fack this shit. lame and very unprofessional.
did you set up and confirm a meeting at all with visvim or did you just walk up to their h.q. and expect a meeting right there and then?
i have seen visvim stuff up close and they never ever did anything for me.
Visvim anything doesn’t do much for me. Shoes, hats, any of it. Not my scene.
I agree. Doesn’t do anything for me – like Bape stuff. But then again I’m probably not the target audience. On the other hand, just got an Acronym bag – now that’s good gear.
Heya, you’ve got some fantastic taste in carry! Shoot me an email, would love to chat (just to BS). Maybe a guest post / Road Test on the Acronym?
Thanks! I found this website about a month ago and have kind of gone on a tear. Picked up four bags in the span and waiting on a Killspencer special ops as well. I’d be happy to provide some of my opinion but I’m pretty new to this!
Bag Collector,
The reason is basic human conditioning. Stereotypes and sweeping generalizations exist because of consistency in group behavior. Turn on the Hot Water lever, inevitably Hot Water will run, assuming everything is copacetic with the system and you’re in good standing with the Energy Cartel.
If group characteristics weather through epochal changes and it’s confirmed through personal experiences, there must be some axiomatic truth to it. French Waiters probably deserve their reputation as world class pricks.
People who think the Japanese are Xenophobic probably think so because it satisfies their inner desires. I’ll grant this but what’s interesting is that I’ve met a number of Progressive Japanese who’ve openly complained about their own culture–rigid conformity, sterile sameness, homogenous, etc. ( I just described my fellow New Englanders). There was even an attempt to curb it through legislation in the Japanese Diet.
When I write that “it’s part of Japanese society”, it’s not intended as a pejorative commentary but a real, discernible aspect of their culture experienced internally and externally.
But I don’t believe this is the reason for the snub. They’re trying to create a company image but it’s delivery is questionable. It’s akin to Academic Institutions gaming the USNWR rankings through selectivity. They didn’t enhance their respective programs, facilities or value. They merely lured a few major donors, increased their applications because of exposure through Sports and denied candidates for the sake of denying.