r/Vollebak

Reflections of the joy of roughness. 

My route into Vollebak was looking for security in a time of change and uncertainty. In the face of complexity and challenges I read an article about the 100 year hoodie, and its intention - to protect you from weather, fire, abrasion and time - really called to me. 

I’m not always comfortable with that. Whilst I’d like to think I’m Tyler Durden I sometimes find myself more aligned to the Narrator: just one more piece and my life will be fixed…

But I have found, as I grow older, that sometimes the joy of life is the roughness of it. 

"Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.”

I suspect, in a world of AI, that we will come to appreciate the roughness of people’s writing and thoughts. I think we will come to dislike the polish of LLM’s creative endeavours. I see and feel this rejection brewing now. 

I believe this is true of clothing too. We are gathered here - for the most part - because we admire the philosophy of Vollebak. It’s very easy to walk into a department store and buy cheap, quickly made garments (and look, some people have no choice - I am not knocking that at all) but they are inherently soulless. 

Don’t get me wrong, some of Vollebak’s approach to logistics can be a flipping nightmare. I myself have waited ages for kit and know people on here who are still waiting for gear from the sales now. But there is something genuinely charming about Vollebak’s approach to sizing (all over the place) and the semi-chaos of their approach sometimes. A small team of dedicated people trying to make outrageous things. It’s the antithesis and antidote of a seemingly increasingly superficial world. An attention to detail in a culture full of reels. 

And, on a personal note, last night I had to put my dog, Pops, to sleep. She was 15. She was chaotic and food obsessed and I will miss her deeply. The joy of the roughness - and my heart is broken - is that this is what it feels like to love something in a world that isn’t perfect. I guess, in the end, none of us can really be protected from the passage of time. 

So sleep now Pops. You did good. 

Rarity = ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Some Vollebak pieces really are a 1 of 1

Just as rare as the Mycelium Jacket, this Apocalypse Pupper Jacket was custom made for the Irish Wolfhound Guinness

Released in 2022

One way of thinking about this is that it’s the story of what happens when a joke goes too far, and then simply carries on going.

The other way to think about it, is what point is there surviving the end of the world if your best friend doesn’t make it too?

When we launched our first ever Apocalypse gear at the start of this year, we ran a competition to find out what one thing you’d take with you to help survive the apocalypse.

When more of you chose your dog than your partner (or a weapon) we launched another competition to find the best Vollebak dog.

It was won by a giant Irish wolfhound called Guinness. Naturally we gave his owner Nicky L, an Apocalypse Jacket. But then we built one for Guinness too.

Guinness has been testing his jacket out for the last 6 months. And now we want to give your dog the same treatment. So if you have a dog, go ask them if they’ve been a good dog and deserve a new coat… that’s fireproof, lava-proof and absurdly tough.

If you and your dog both think they deserve the jacket, then email us here,and we’ll put together a waiting list. We’ll be hand-making the first small batches after Christmas. And pricing will be scaled to the size of your dog – so make sure you include some cool pictures of your dog and its key measurements.

Current Information from Arthur at Vollebak
Hope you guys are having a great week so far!

Guinness is doing well from what I hear, and it sounds like he’s still enjoying his Apocalypse gear.

Unfortunately, the Guinness jacket was a complete one-off, so we don’t have any samples or another one sitting around in the archive. It was made specifically for him, so I’m afraid there isn’t anything I can send over.

We currently have a few dogs around the office so it would have been a pretty cool piece to have tucked away, though.

Sorry I couldn't do more to help this time, but just give me a shout if there's any other gear you might be interested in :)

Cheers,
Arthur

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Hello All!
I went digging in storage recently and found a couple of printed Vollebak items that some of you may not have seen before. Thought it would be fun to share them here.

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The first in the album is a product catalogue of sorts. It was produced by Vollebak's in-house designer at the start of 2022. I was told that it was "sent to some of our best customers as a fun gift" which was pretty neat to hear at the time, but also made me scratch my head as my collection was really just getting started in 2022.

I'm a designer by trade so I really appreciated how thoughtfully it was put together. It's premium in materials and construction, and feels very much elevated a way that matched the product quality I had come to expect from Vollebak at the time. Some of the high-quality photo prints really are striking and make the gear look so much better than it does on a screen.

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The next piece in the album is something you may remember – the first edition of the Vollebak Newspaper that was produced in the summer of 2023. These were sent out as part of an open call for customers and fans who wanted to help distribute them far and wide around the world. I've got a handful of copies of the newspaper, so keep an eye on the sub as we may give away a few of them in the future ◡̈

Despite the ephemeral and fragile nature of the newsprint these were printed on, once again, they were a really nice product and development showcase. Like the catalogue, they feature a lot of large-format, full color printing. Unlike the catalogue, (and more appropriately), there's a lot more to read here!

Some of the highlighted stories include Vollebak Island, the development and production of then-new Aerogel Jackets, Mars gear (hoodies, jacket & pants), the Mars billboard project, and a behind the scenes look at the development of the Thermal Camouflage Jacket.

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Have you seen both of these pieces before, or is this your first look? Did you deliver a round of newspapers somewhere exotic? Tell us in the comments and if you're also a collector of Vollebak ephemera, show us what you've got!