QWSTION

All pro­ducts are desi­gned by the QWS­TI­ON team in Zurich, Switz­er­land. Pro­duc­tion of the bags takes place in Switz­er­land, the Czech Repu­blic and Chi­na. The (raw) mate­ri­als used come from the Phil­ip­pi­nes, Tai­wan and Chi­na.

QWS­TI­ON values the fact that their coll­ec­tion is pro­du­ced in good working con­di­ti­ons. The­r­e­fo­re, the brand regu­lar­ly visits their manu­fac­tu­r­ers and careful­ly sel­ects their pro­duc­tion part­ners. QWS­TI­ON the­r­e­fo­re has an estab­lished and long-term part­ner­ship with their manufacturers. 

On top of that, every pro­du­cer is audi­ted by BSCI (Busi­ness and Social Com­pli­ance Initia­ti­ve). This is a Euro­pean Uni­on initia­ti­ve with the aim of inte­gra­ting Euro­pean pro­duc­tion stan­dards in non-Euro­pean count­ries. QWS­TI­ON only works with manu­fac­tu­r­ers who meet the­se standards.

QWS­TI­ON uses dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als in their coll­ec­tion. An incre­asing part of the coll­ec­tion is made of Banana­tex. This is an inno­va­ti­ve mate­ri­al made from the trunk of a type of bana­na tree. 

The trees grow in mixed forests to sup­port local bio­di­ver­si­ty. The side stalks are fel­led and then pee­led and dried. This is used to make a paper-like mate­ri­al that is then cut up to be pro­ces­sed into yarns and textiles. 

Banana­tex is a sus­tainable mate­ri­al becau­se it is all-natu­ral and easy to recy­cle. The bana­na tree requi­res no irri­ga­ti­on water or pesti­ci­des, and no harmful che­mi­cals are used in the pro­duc­tion pro­cess eit­her. The mate­ri­al was the­r­e­fo­re award­ed the crad­le-to-crad­le gold cer­ti­fi­ca­te as pro­of of its circularity.

In addi­ti­on, QWS­TI­ON also makes back­packs from orga­nic cot­ton. Unfort­u­na­te­ly, the brand has no cer­ti­fi­ca­tes pro­ving that it is real­ly orga­nic cot­ton. QWS­TI­ON also uses recy­cled cot­ton as lining insi­de the bags.

To make the bags and back­packs resistant to rain, QWS­TI­ON choo­ses an eco­lo­gi­cal PU coa­ting. This is a PFAS-free pro­tec­ti­ve coa­ting that makes your bag water­pro­of. The Banana­tex is trea­ted with a bees­wax on top so that your belon­gings are pro­tec­ted in all kinds of weather.

As men­tio­ned ear­lier, Banana­tex is cir­cu­lar. Orga­nic cot­ton is also a natu­ral mate­ri­al, so both mate­ri­als are biode­gra­da­ble. This is a step in the right direc­tion, but still QWS­TI­ON’s back­packs are not com­ple­te­ly cir­cu­lar.

Syn­the­tic ele­ments are also incor­po­ra­ted to pro­vi­de strength to the bag, for exam­p­le in the straps and zip­per. The stit­ching thread also needs to be strong for dura­bi­li­ty, which is why a syn­the­tic mate­ri­al is chosen.

QWS­TI­ON unfort­u­na­te­ly does not have a short sup­p­ly chain. Mate­ri­als are sourced from the Phil­ip­pi­nes, Chi­na and Tai­wan. Manu­fac­tu­ring, on the other hand, takes place in Switz­er­land, the Czech Repu­blic and Chi­na. So your purcha­se unfort­u­na­te­ly tra­vels a long distance to get to you.

Bes­i­des the vegan coll­ec­tion, the­re are also some back­packs and bags that have lea­ther ele­ments appli­ed to them to impro­ve the bag’s strength. QWS­TI­ON always uses vege­tal-tan­ned lea­ther that is a co-pro­duct of the meat indus­try. This way, the brand avo­ids having ani­mals die for the lea­ther alo­ne. Vege­tal-tan­ned lea­ther is also a sus­tainable choice becau­se the­re are no harmful che­mi­cals invol­ved. This ensu­res that it is also biode­gra­da­ble after use. Moreo­ver, it is a high-qua­li­ty and dura­ble mate­ri­al.

QWS­TI­ON is com­mit­ted to making their pro­ducts last lon­ger. They do this both in mate­ri­als and design. They always opt for dura­ble mate­ri­als of good qua­li­ty. They com­bi­ne this with a mini­ma­list style and ver­sa­ti­le designs.

Moreo­ver, the Swiss design team tests the bags exten­si­ve­ly befo­re pro­du­cing them. This way, the brand is sure that the bags can with­stand inten­se, dai­ly use. QWS­TI­ON’s back­packs and hand­bags are the­r­e­fo­re ver­sa­ti­le in their prac­ti­cal appli­ca­ti­ons.

QWS­TI­ON scores well in terms of trans­pa­ren­cy. They not only name the pro­duc­tion count­ries, but also whe­re the mate­ri­als come from. They also use clear label­ling in the bags them­sel­ves, so you get all the infor­ma­ti­on about your purchase.