Nice to have you here again and reading my weekly blog! My name is Brechje and I founded All-time Favourites (ATF) a long time ago! Every week I write a blog to take you into my ATF world and to tell you what comes my way while building my own brand and business.
Today I want to tell you about the history of ATF. More than 10 years ago, as a fashionable answer to that ugly but handy large Ikea bag, I came up with the ATF python tote bag. I kept the size the same but added all kinds of useful extras, such as a large zipper, a pink lining, pockets on the inside, a cord for your keys (or toiletry bag), press studs at the ends of the zipper to make the bag smaller and of course our pink logo. At that moment I didn't know that this tote bag would be the start of something bigger: a successful big bag brand!
I chose python because I thought it was a very sophisticated animal print. It's classic, it's timeless, and an all-time favorite! When that one bag turned out to be such a success, I had to start a collection because with just one bag you are nothing. And I started thinking: what are other classics, timeless prints that never go out of style?
The answer was obvious. It had to be leopard print. Sometimes it is all-over-the-place and sometimes it is just a subtle touch, but when it comes to fashion, the leopard print is always there. It was an instant success at All-time Favourites, too. Just like the first python print. People love animal prints.
So I then thought: what animal print can we add next? Which other animal print is so timeless? The zebra of course! The white makes it a bit fresher than the beige python and brown leopard print. And a really nice addition.
With these three prints we quickly conquered the Netherlands! And these prints never left the collection. They form the basis of ATF. But still something was missing. Because in 2016 I added a fourth print; the camouflage print. This print is of course not an animal, but it a real classic, a must-have, and above all timeless. In short, it fit perfectly with All-time Favourites. I chose a different material, namely washed canvas, which made this a light bag. Camouflage was also an immediate success and is now a permanent part of ATF 5 years later. This gave us a basic collection of 4 prints.
You don't know at the time of launch what will become a permanent feature, but we were on a roll, and added number 5, a crocodile print at the end of 2016. In a beautiful vegan black croc print material it is now our best-selling version after five years!
We call these five classics our BIG 5. With a nod to the BIG FIVE in Africa. Because all five prints completely fit into the safari atmosphere. And our bags, like the animals, are BIG.
These five prints form the basis of our permanent ATF collection and they will always exist. And every year I also make new prints, new models and limited editions. Something I really enjoy doing. But...sometimes I think to myself, why bother when 8 out of 10 orders in any of our web stores (Netherlands, Spain, Germany), are from the BIG 5 collection! Funny, right?
I know that I always have to renew and innovate, so would never take the idea of not making anything new seriously. In the coming weeks the BIG 5 collection will finally be replenished and we will also receive a few new items in the collection. Not much, but due to Covid, new materials were seriously delayed, so we will only launch them around Christmas!
So just be patient!
Nice weekend,
Love Brechje
