Mission Workshop
An interview with founder Bart Kyzar
Nestled inside a small alleyway in San Francisco's Mission district you'll find remnants (like a painted curb) of Mission Workshop's humble beginnings.
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. They’ve lately been expanding with more heavy-duty tactical offerings from their LA-based development lab.
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 16th 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.
The Control backpack is a new entry in MW's lineup that feels like an extension of previous Arkiv packs and the Carryology Mars special project. Could you talk about the new pack and how you arrived at the innovative set of features and materials?
The Control Pack is our most updated version in the Arkiv line. It brings together increased functionality, organization and an advanced harness system that we developed when building packs for NASA. For the materials we’re using a three layer laminate from Challenge Sail Cloth for both the shell and liner. It’s a very strong and lightweight waterproof fabric.
Control introduces a new back harness system. What role does ergonomics play in the way you approach product design? How do you experiment with new systems like this that find their way into your new products?
With the new harness system we wanted to the pack to fully adjustable so that one pack would fit nearly any person. This was important for the NASA packs we were building because astronauts and scientists on the testing team ran the full range of height and build.
We utilized the integrated aluminum stays not only to support the pack load but also as a track for the harness to slide on when adjusting. Our experiments lie mainly with our designer and cofounder who is always innovating at our design space down in LA. I’d say there’s only about 10% of the really good stuff that ever makes it to market, there’s a lot of really interesting things going on over there and not enough time to bring them all to fruition.
The new Control EPX Pack is one of the best backpacks I’ve ever used. It evolves nearly everything from their classic Arkiv packs and adds improved materials, elegant and ergonomic suspension, and a whole new range of accessories designed to take you anywhere. The large main cavity also works with their previous accessories like the Capsule camera insert and their accessory pouches. The Axis VX Modular Waist Pack makes a perfect companion for the Control pack. Use it with the Arkiv system or as an essential companion on your next bike ride or adventure around the city.
The newly minted Meridian Backpack pairs the performant Challenge EPX fabric with a new clamshell opening “…crafted in our Los Angeles facility, home to R&D, design, and small-batch production for select U.S. military teams.” I haven’t tested it but it’s exciting to see MW expand into new territory with their continued focus on carry innovation.
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