The Journey That Built This Bag

When I look at this bag, I don’t just see fabric and zips.

I see the 5 a.m. wake-ups, the factory noise, and smell of coffee. I feel the heat that doesn’t let up even when the sun goes down, and hear the noise of thousands of moped engines interrupting each other. 

I see the people: the quiet focus of the seamstresses and pattern makers, the laughter from the photographer and the models between takes on the shoot.

All of them, in some way, built these bags too.

I’ve designing bags for a few years now, but every trip back to the factory reminds me how much I still have to learn.

It’s easy to think of design as sketches and ideas, but most of it is just patience and a continuous flow of problems to solve.

Whether it’s the decisions and constant revisions, the hours in the workshop, or getting on a plane several times a year to visit suppliers, so much happens behind the scenes.

After coming out to Vietnam a few times and working side by side with the people on the factory floor, I’ve gained a huge amount of respect for every part of the process.

It’s work that demands focus, and sometimes, humility, because the moment you think you’ve nailed it, you find another thing you could make better.

Amid the long factory days, with the launch of our new Mint Green color around the corner, I set up a few photo shoots while I was there.

It started with a full day of shooting at a studio on the outskirts of the city with Christophe and his team. The next morning, at 5 a.m., we were back at it — loading prototypes into taxis, filming around the city in 35-degree heat just to get the perfect shot.

If you’ve never done a photo shoot in Vietnam in July, imagine standing inside a sauna and then turning a hair dryer on.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this country. The kindness of the people, the amazing food, the deepness of the culture, I have had such a blast here. 

But it also wouldn’t be true if I didn’t admit that there were moments, as the heat beat down on us, when I thought: Why am I doing this? It would’ve been far easier to have organized all of this back home in London.

Still, by the end of the trip, when I saw the finished bag under studio lights, I remembered exactly why.

This new drop is a homage to the journey; to the people who’ve supported Cancha until now, to every stage from drawing through to delivery.

That’s what this trip to Vietnam was about. Not perfection, but progress.

That’s the beauty, and the nightmare, of making physical products.
You don’t just “ship an update.” This isn't IOS26.

You wait. You test. You adjust. You learn patience the hard way.

But somewhere between the chaos — models laughing, scooters buzzing past, gear everywhere — we captured what Cancha is supposed to feel like:
Movement. Energy. Freedom. The idea that your gear should never hold you back.

And when I saw the Mint Green All Court Backpack in that light for the first time, I thought, okay, maybe all this was worth it.

I didn’t come home with any big revelations. Just a stronger sense of how messy and rewarding this whole thing is.

The bag turned out great. The process nearly killed me.

And in some strange way, I can’t wait to do it again.

Thanks for reading — and for being part of this journey.

If you want to see what it actually looked like behind the scenes, we filmed the whole thing. You can find the full video on our YouTube channel.

Jack

Founder, Cancha

P.S. If you've been eying that Mint Green drop, you can get early access here.