The story so far ④

table of contents

3. Troubles mount: HushTug is on the brink of closure

An email received by HushTug

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's zero-COVID policy, the weak yen, and a lack of successors at factories...

As we were struggling with a number of problems that we couldn't solve on our own, we remembered an email we had received a while ago.

"It's for Mongolia, so it makes no sense unless we do it in a Mongolian factory."

As HushTug has continued to operate a factory in Mongolia, we felt a certain pride in continuing production in Mongolia.

Because of this, I had never previously considered having the sewing done in Japan.

"However, if things continue like this, the very existence of the brand will be in jeopardy. If it goes bankrupt like this, it will have been a total waste rather than a contribution to Mongolia."

In order to do whatever it takes to keep the brand alive, we have decided to speak with Handbag Suzuki Co., Ltd., who contacted us.

After speaking with them, I learned about the incredible quality of Japanese sewing technology and the serious state of the sewing industry.

Although Japan's sewing industry has some of the world's best technology, it has been plagued by a chronic lack of successors.

The average age is said to be 70 years old, and it is no exaggeration to say that most of them, except for large factories, are facing a crisis of survival.

Thinking back, I remembered that HushTug was founded with the idea of solving the Mongolian leather industry and the poverty and environmental problems that are the causes of the industry.

At the same time, I felt that even though we are from different countries and scales, we are all headed in the same direction, wanting to solve social issues and ensure the survival of our industries.

If they insist on producing in Mongolia now, the survival of the brand itself will be in jeopardy.
If the brand goes under, products made with Mongolian leather will no longer be available, and Mongolia's poverty and environmental problems will worsen.
Japan's sewing industry has incredible technology, but it is facing a crisis.

....

We decided to abandon our pride in making the product ourselves, and only in Mongolia, and move forward with production in Japan.

From then on, we continued to work with Handbag Suzuki on a process of trial and error, just as we did when we first developed the tote bag in Mongolia.

Handbag Suzuki has a wealth of production experience and skills, including for high-end brands, and has significantly increased the variety of items it can produce.

In particular, the leather sacoche developed with Handbag Suzuki around the summer of 2022 is an item that was jointly planned with a customer and realized using high-level Japanese technology.

We received over 300 pre-orders at the time of release alone, and it has since been chosen by many customers.

Now that we are no longer able to produce in Mongolia and production has shifted to Japan, we may have disappointed our customers.

However, at HushTug, we feel that producing in Japan is "a new step forward in our continued contributions to Mongolia."

Currently, in order to create better products with even higher quality leather, some of our products are made using Himeji leather, the finest in Japan.

However, by continuing to use Mongolian leather for some of our products, we hope to be able to help solve social issues in Mongolia through the leather industry and its exports.

Like the sacoche example, we are now able to produce higher quality leather products than ever before, and we hope to continue to show our customers our evolution as a brand.

The story so far, the story to come

Thank you for reading the story so far.

When HushTug was born, a group of young people in their twenties with no know-how, knowledge, experience or connections decided to create a brand from scratch, even though they didn't speak the same language.

Many people opposed and looked down on me, saying it was a reckless thing to do, that there was no point in doing it because it wouldn't be successful, and that there were too many competitors in the leather industry to make any money.

However, it is precisely because it is so difficult that we are able to tackle something that no one has done before, regardless of race or nationality, with all our might, and succeed. We will change the social issues facing the country, and the Japanese sewing industry. I believe that it is worth taking on this challenge precisely because it is such a big undertaking.

Through HushTug, we would like to spread our values and challenging attitude and hope that it will inspire even one person to start something new, thinking, "If they can do it, surely I can do it too?" or "I'll give it a try!"

I believe that if more people could solve problems for society or for others, the world would be a richer and happier place.

At the same time, if HushTug can boost industry, it could potentially help solve social problems.

A brand that grows together with its creators and users. That is "HushTug."

A record of our activities will be added to this page as they occur.

This story has just begun. We will continue to overcome many challenges together with our craftsmen and employees. We hope you will continue to watch over our story.

Thank you for reading to the end.

HushTug Representative Takahisa Toda