Nestled inside a small alleyway in San Francisco's Mission district you'll see some painted wooded signage advertising Mission Workshop's humble, industrial storefront.
Founded in 2009 by Mark Falvai and Bart Kyzar, Mission Workshop exudes a kind of quiet, unassuming confidence—bringing their unique visions for carry, technical performance, and minimalist design to the outdoor recreation, cycling, and urban adventure audiences.
I had a chance to chat with Bart Kyzar about how Mission Workshop got started and about how their approach to building a line of quality products over the long haul is unique in a world awash in disposable, turnkey products.
I'd love to hear you chat about the experience of how Mission Workshop got started? I know you both worked at Chrome on MTB products but would love to hear how you carved out a unique range of products focusing on urban carry, cycling, sports, etc. What was the journey like?
My business partner Mark Falvai and our friend Doug Hudson started Chrome in Colorado in the 1990s. Back then there weren’t any mountain bike lifestyle brands and no options other than lycra for riding apparel. They designed a pair of baggy technical riding shorts along with other apparel and bags and pretty much launched the mountain bike apparel category. It all grew from there into a broader product mix including travel and outdoor. After nine years in Colorado, we moved Chrome out to San Francisco and had some great years in the city before selling the company in 2007.
After a couple years on various projects, we decided to get the band back together and set up a shop in the Mission to work on some new ideas. Our first product, an expandable backpack called the Vandal, was a fun launch and is still in the lineup today. We focused primarily on bags for the first few releases and then jumped back into apparel as well and are evenly divided between the two at this point.
I know your workshop is based in SF's iconic Mission district. It's deeply embedded in your brand. How has the physical location of your shop shaped the products that you design and create? How much does the creativity of the environment around you affect the company you've built.
San Francisco, and the Mission in particular, has a grit and energy we’ve always loved. It’s a very creative place with great food and music and we’ve managed to cultivate a crew and community over the years that’s been pivotal to the brand. In the city you generally get around without a car and you can experience three of the four seasons on any given day so having good gear is vital.
Getting a little more technical, I would love to hear about how you developed the Arkiv® system. In terms of carry systems it's very unique and I'd love to hear how this came about and how it has shaped your various product lines.
Mark designs all our bags and came up with the Arkiv® modular system as quicker and simpler way to add pouches and accessories to a bag (or anything else really). The modularity allows you to customize your pack and adapt to the need at hand. It’s a really powerful system that we’ve really only scratched the surface of. Lots more to come!
In terms of the creative process, where do you pull inspiration from? Do you develop lots of prototypes in the process of creating a new product? How much collaboration and testing is involved in bringing something to life?
Ha, yes! Our workshop has been littered with the remains of very interesting designs that end up being a steppingstone to another, better product. We generate a lot of prototypes during this process. Mark works more in the world of scissors and sewing machines rather than software and starts sewing things up early in the process to see how they look and think about the construction. This process is collaborative but mainly through critique and feedback from the team on the early designs.
Across building Mission Workshop and it's product, what has surprised you most about the journey? What has you excited looking into the future?
It has definitely been a journey! I’d say the most surprising thing is how quickly time goes by. It feels like we just started Mission but this is our 15th year. The thing that keeps me the most excited is new product. Seeing a brand new pack as it comes off the sewing floor is as exhilarating now as it was when we first launched the Vandal back in 2009.
I've used, experimented with, and tested a lot of Mission Workshop's bags and products. My favorite backpack in the entire lineup is the iconic R6 Arkiv Field Pack. It features waterproof main compartments, a detachable waist belt, and 6 of MW's signature Arkiv® rails that allow configuring the pack with additional waterproof attachments to suit your needs. The waist belt is pivotal for activities like mountain biking or cycling where you need stability. It is great for hiking, travel, urban carry, as a work bag, or pretty much anything you throw at it. The versatility and build quality are unparalleled.
Another category that Mission Workshop excels is in their technical apparel. The clean lines and neutral colors bely the over-engineered performance of everything from outerwear to denim and shirts. This year I commend to you the Stahl Utility Short: durable, svelte, with a DWR finish that will hold up for any kind of warm-weather activity outdoors.
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