Last week I went to the Trakke offices in Glasgow to meet with founder Alec and to see around their studio space.
For those of you who don’t know of Trakke, they are a Glasgow based company who make outdoor products for the everyday adventurer. Their products consist of bags made from Harris Tweed, wax cotton which is made in Dundee and Ventile Cotton. Trakke believe in British products and British Manufacturing.
At Trakke adventure is an exciting way to access the outdoors. You may not be necessarily doing the most extreme activity but it’s the idea that everyone has their own adventure whether its going for a walk in a part of your city you haven’t explored before or going a walk on a nature trail. Trakke products are designed for those people going on new adventures.
I got to sit down with Alec and find out a little bit more.
Hi Alec, how was Trakke born?
I moved from Derbyshire to Glasgow to study Graphic Design at Glasgow School of Art and during the summer of my 3rd year I got pretty bored. My flatmate had a sewing machine and I decided to start playing with it and making things. I have always liked making things with my hands and it was a good way to make the time pass. I decided to start making bags with materials I found from industrial bins around Glasgow. I started making bags from old leather sofas, prams, suitcases, basically anything I could make a bag out of I used.
When did you start selling the bags?
In 2010 I managed to get a stall in the Barras to sell some stock. I made 250 bags which were inspired by 1950’s outdoor kit. We sold all the bags and managed to gather a little bit of following. This allowed us to start using different materials.
In 2012 I graduated and decided that I really wanted to continue with the idea of Trakke. I brought all the manufacturing in-house. By using materials from the UK we were supporting British manufacturing and many of the materials we use are due to their longevity. Things really started taking off then.
How has this year been for Trakke?
This year we doubled in size and moved into our new studio in the West End. We have also launched a new collection to show that adults can explore and have adventure too. We are also up for five Herald Fashion Awards which is incredible for us – a member of the team registered us for the awards on my behalf so it was a little bit of a surprise to find out we were up for four awards. We have also just put our products in the WearEponymous Pop-up Store in Princes Square so people can go and see the products and buy them in store in the run up to Christmas.
What’s Next for Trakke?
We are hoping to expand on the current collection as well as release a new collection to give our customers more variety.
Your can vote for Trakke in the Herald Fashion Public Choice Award here.
