Sometimes it’s the provinces that bring the clearest vision. Raised among workshops and construction sites in Bavaria, the founders of fashion label OBS learned early on that good design starts where materials and hands meet. With a carpenter father and a seamstress mother, this awareness was instilled in them from birth. Today, OBS is based in Augsburg — away from the major fashion capitals — building a system that combines craftsmanship, durability, and design. It all started with a rectangle. In 2019, the label launched its first design, a leather messenger bag with a gusseted bottom. Since then, their portfolio has grown, and so has their ambition. Every product is developed in close collaboration with artisans, with each idea tested, hammered, sewn, or welded in workshops before it makes it into the collection. OBS describes their designs as a “toolbox for people with a creative drive”: bags, shoes, jewelry, and soon, furniture. A vertical design system that knows no genre or gender boundaries. Throughout, they remain straightforward, repeatedly drawing inspiration from toolboxes and construction sites. Their latest runway looked exactly like one, concrete mixer included.

The T-shirts are printed with detailed drawings of Fischer dowels and slogans that evoke hardware stores or craft workshops, with the OBS logo appearing repeatedly, accompanied by a Rams-style brand motto: Form / Function / Quality. Every architect’s wet dream: a designer blueprint roll and a leather case for a set square. On the webshop, alongside product photos, find technical drawings and three-view projections complete with dimension chains. Their latest bag design is called “Utensil”. Humor doesn’t officially play a role at OBS, the team says. But anyone familiar with the set-square bag or designer ear protection knows that sometimes function turns into the punchline all on its own.

Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Maximilian Semlinger

OBS

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