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Four bars of chocolate – that’s the weight of a 32-liter backpack that Janine Häberle (36) sewed herself. A normal backpack weighs an average of 14 bars of chocolate. “So I can put ten bars of chocolate in my backpack and carry the weight of an empty, normal backpack on my back,” I think aloud.
Janine Häberle smiles after my account. We are sitting in the sun with Häberle’s dog at our feet and the view of the Saas Valley in front of us. The terrace is the entrance area to Häberle’s studio, a small room in her mother’s summer flat.
small studio
“It’s important to me to use things for as long as possible and also in a variety of ways,” says the 36-year-old who studied textile design in Lucerne and now lives in Saas Fee. The shelves in the studio used to be sofas.
He sees me smiling as I enter the studio from the sunny balcony. Yes, I had imagined the workspace larger: the sewing area is just 2 by 4 metres. Two sewing machines have their place at the table. The tool hangs on the wall like backpack prototypes and supplies.
The first models still in use
“I got my first paraglider from a friend of my mother’s. Growing up in Wolfhausen, near Bubikon ZH, the textile designer said, “Without much research, I cut out the umbrella and tried to use the whole thing to buy a backpack.” He knitted the paragliding ropes to create ribbons.
“It required six prototypes to fit,” he says. But even the first models were so good that they are still used: “Yes, my mother and a colleague still need them.”
It was in the fall of 2020 when these first models were created. He got the idea from a friend who used a lightweight backpack made of ripstop fabric. Paragliders and kites are made of the same material and are thrown even if ripstop fabric can be used.
About seven hours of work
Haberle sold about 100 backpacks. It takes about seven hours to make a touring backpack. Today it has two models: the “Mittaghorn” backpack weighing 250 grams and having a space of 22 liters, and the “Südlenz” touring backpack weighing 400 grams and having a volume of 32 liters.
He cuts the pieces in the living room of the holiday apartment because the studio is so small and needs a lot of space when a paraglider breaks up. It can plant 12 to 20 items from a paraglider. «This is how small bags and toiletry bags appeared. I still had material leftovers and wanted to use it,” says Häberle.
A stitch of eight layers
The textile designer already has other ideas: he wants to produce a dog collar under the label “Schwarzberg Saasfee” and maybe later backpacks for children. It cannot (yet) survive from the sewn parts. He received first aid from the Swiss Mountain Charity Foundation. Today, thanks to a 50 percent job and frugal lifestyles, they have enough to live on.
“I don’t have to pay for the basic stuff, my friends and strangers send it to me,” he explains. It takes care of the postage, as well as the separation and washing of the paraglider. The outer seam consists of eight layers to be particularly robust – the effort to sew with used material is higher than with new materials.
Customers travel to Saas-Fee
“I was once allowed to set up a full paraglider from a migrating couple. They have given these backpacks and bags to their children, grandchildren, and close friends.” Häberle can hear the enthusiasm that someone thinks is so sustainable. Plus, customers head to the Saas Valley to buy a new buckle for their backpacks.
Each piece is unique, but Häberle emphasizes, “If the customer doesn’t like it, you can return it.” Satisfied customers use the product longer, and this is the most important thing for him. It must be sustainable. He also sees the limitations of design with used products as an enriching challenge. However, I couldn’t get over the challenge of returning without buying a backpack.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
