We are often asked why some of our products are sold out. From the customer’s point of view, this may seem somewhat peculiar in a market economy. But there is a specific and important reason for this.

We work with small family businesses that lovingly make our alternative clothing at home or in a small community building. Some of our producers also belong to ethnic minorities of the Hmong, Lizu, Karen and Naga, who weave or embroider decorative elements in particular. These detailed processes take time. Errors can happen everywhere, but stress and time pressure in particular contribute to them.

Now you ask yourself, why not employ more people when the demand is there?

Admittedly, we have often asked ourselves the same question.

But there are two convincing reasons for this. On the one hand, people who are capable of this special craftsmanship are not to be found everywhere. On the other hand, we are in a seasonal business. Especially in summer we need more production capacities than in winter. If we employ more people in the summer, we cannot guarantee their jobs during winter. This would leave families with problems and challenges and employees could not rely on us. This is exactly what we avoid.

Our company currently consists of only eight employees, but we are not only responsible for these eight people and their families. No, also our suppliers, their employees, their families, even people who produce the fabrics depend to some extent on us. We also see our suppliers and their employees as our employees and virblatt family members for whom we are committed. That is why we focus on sustainable growth and identify ourselves with the Slow Fashion philosophy. Products manufactured with love, which give our customers pleasure for a long time.

Instead of putting pressure on our friends and suppliers, we have decided to give you, our customers and friends, more insights into our production. In the future you will find a label on each of our products that will tell you more about the wonderful people who made the product. This will be rounded of by interviews and videos. You may be curious. In addition, we are now increasingly posting when products that are often in demand are available again. This way you as our companions are always up to date and can get a specific garment you wished for.

We are by no means perfect and do not know whether this is the right way. But we owe it to ourselves, our families, like-minded people and in principle all people who live together with us on this wonderful earth, to give everything and every day to make our business more sustainable.

think about it.

Andreas Reich | Production Management | virblatt GmbH

The new virblatt magazine “Hammock”

Do you want to know who is in our hammock?

Get inspired by Elena and Matteo, who share their thoughts about a fascinating alternative lifestyle. Dive deeper into the diverse cultures of Southeast Asian hill tribes, discover the best places in and around Chiang Mai and meet the beautiful traveling soul Mali Pah.

This is the story of virblatt. The story of what became our business. The story of our life and what it became the past couple of years….

As many others, we wanted to see the world, so we figured Asia would be a good start. As four young travelers, we did what many other travelers do: We booked a flight to Bangkok – the gateway to Asia. To make it really exciting for us – and our parents – we didn´t book anything else in advance. And it turned out to be a good idea. When spending days in Bangkok you meet the greatest variety of travelers that you can think of. All of them have their story to tell. And of course, they also share their routes, so you can finally make up your mind where you to spend your holidays. So we ended up passing some nights in busses and night trains (saving time and money for a night in a real bed in a bungalow) to see nice beaches, eat every kind of food the food stalls have to offer, visit national parks, viewpoints, waterfalls, elephants, snake shows, monkey shows, crocodile shows – there are shows for nearly everything… and yes we saw that one as well.

Meanwhile we filled up our backpack with cheap clothes that would last until our next journey. And there was one thing no traveler seemed to miss: the most comfortable clothing ever. Drop crotch pants made their way into our lives.

Until this point nothing differs from a journey to Thailand that many tourists experience year by year. But we returned home with an idea that would change our lives in the long run. While we were studying and working, we bought some more harem pants with the plan to sell them in the internet.

We did everything for the first time: We shipped a box of harem pants to Germany, we imported them, we counted and categorized them, we made photos and created offers for them. We started with less than 100 pants that we bought in a shop in one of the big shopping malls in Bangkok putting them in ebay auctions to see what people would be willing to spend on them. And it worked… we reinvested everything to buy new pants to set up a small Online Shop to create the brand bonzaai. We did this for a very long time, working for fun and not for money.

While our brand was growing we were always curious about one thing: Where do our products come from? So travelling soon became a mission. We met the people behind our clothes: We met Thai families that set up tailoring facilities in their backyards and Asian hill tribes in remote areas, that are known for the weavings and embroideries used for their traditional clothing. Meeting the people behind our products also gave us the chance to design and create our own styles combining alternative clothes with traditional elements creating a unique style.

We not just expanded our sales of harem pants but also our travel radius. Actually, we only wanted to go trekking in the mountains to get away from the business life we created around us – not to mention that we were still caught up in studying and working to earn our livings (our own business was still exclusively our passion). Nepal seemed like the perfect place to get out of the fast-moving daily business with its great Himalayan mountain ranges. And it turned out to be a perfect place for alternative clothes as well. Suddenly we found ourselves in the Nepalese business world: faster, louder and dirtier than in Thailand. After getting to know the Nepalese tailors – we also wanted to know where the products in the streets of Kathmandu come from – we were offered Nepalese hospitality when we were invited to our new friend’s home for dinner.

Since our suppliers became more international, we figured we can do the same. We expanded our sales internationally and created a new brand: virblatt. virblatt is for people like us. People with an alternative lifestyle. People that care where their products come from. Do you want to know where your product comes from?

virblatt – think about it.