OLOW x LCK
Equipped with all of our escapade notebooks made of faux leather and poor quality pages, we thought it was time to finally make our own. Something beautiful and strong enough that we could write our testament until the last page! In short, we needed a new friend, guaranteed for life, who loves above all an adventure … To complete this project we decided to team up with the most unconventional manufactures of French notebooks “La Compagnie du Kraft!
Interview at the top with the big boss
Hi Nicolas,
To start with, can you give us a few words on LCK and its history?
LA COMPAGNIE DU KRAFT was revived in 2008 after struggling between the 70s and the year 2000.
Born in 1930, the first book (the book of the countryside) was a liason tool between forest owners in Europe’s largest forest the massif of Landes and the performer (s) of operation: cutting down the forest here, cutting it down there, general exploitation happenings and the scene of that time …
This recovery was not accompanied by any particular development models and know-how: a labour workshop with letterpress plates for every set of tools, removable notebooks, rechargeable and indestructible, mounted by hand with goodwill and a sense of sharing.
What’s your background, what you were doing before you embarked on this slightly crazy project?
I was a software editor, i.e. something that is very expensive that never works and triggers zero emotion. With notebooks, it is as if it’s the weekend throughout the year. The restart of the workshop and the transfer of know-how have been able because of my savings but I get off on the results like a 6 year old child with their first bike.
The materials are of great quality, where does the leather come from? and the Kraft?
No concessions are made on the materials: natural kraft of Gascony, the same as in 1925 at the birth of the factory in Mimizan. A pure virgin fibre where the sensuality makes your hair stand on end!
The leather is made for us in Aveyron, vegetable tanned and sliced through for a crazy result: 2.2mm of leather to make it as thick as a buffalo skin cover, all cut with shears and very natural.
How many of you are there in the team?
It depends on the day: 5 in the morning, less at siesta time, 2 in the afternoon. We work for fun, money will follow when it has the time. Anyway, the workshop is too small to fit anymore people in. As for stress … What is that?
Where are the notebooks distributed?
You can find our books among friends and most of the time their houses, it’s cool / fun to work with them: Thank you, Colette, Shopping Centre, Sennelier and the beautiful boutiques and concept stores abroad in Germany, England, Japan, USA, Canada, Switzerland, Australia …
Why have you chosen to work with OLOW?
Our collaboration is the result of various meetings. There wasn’t a commercial push, just a desire … OLOW doesn’t follow the rules and pushes the exercise a little further : one must get used to your stance, but we love OLOW’S spirit.
We will carry this notebook everywhere on our travels , can you advise us on a destination (s) for 2014?
La Compagnie du KRAFT advocates the following: kindness , sharing and simplicity. I would have liked to have answered Mali, a country where I found the above values, but it’s not really the right time to go there. Otherwise, all the countries where there are mountains and you can ski without moderation. There you can take what you want , keeing above all humility, without expecting anything other than kindness. And mobile phones don’t have signal.
You must have a lot of projects planned for this year , can you wet our taste buds?
We have just opened our shop in Paris which is a real test for all our inventions. This is also an opportunity to present the artists with whom we have started working with . The illustrator Frank Pellegrino has also opened the ball with a limited edition logbook . There will also be more things like this in limited series , very short and customizations galore.
We will also pay homage to women who are a little absent from the world of forest and butchers with the re- interpretation of a model developed in 1928 by a sylvicultrice lady from Landes . For now , the product is nothing . But it will be in keeping , solid and rechargeable with a touch of softness and ease of use in addition .
Ok, we ‘ll finish on a musical note , what song is playing over and over at your premises?
We have a soft spot for a young French artist who will also add the sound in our first video : FRANK . He sings in English with influences from Jamiroquai …
Thank you to Nicolas Recoing
Website of La Compagnie du Kraft
Facebook page of La Compagnie du Kraft
