I am Matt Crack, founder and sole maker at crackpacs. I make colourful bags and backpacks from repurposed materials, mainly retro canvas tents. 

I grew up in the heart of England on the Malvern Hills, where outdoor adventure flows like the water. I was lucky enough to have the space, my own little makers shed, to store things I had collected, and to make, break, dismantle, mend and reimagine these old things into new. So, it was clear from the start I was destined to make something for adventure.

After completing my design degree, I started making adverts. I worked for 10 years in London as an Art Director in creative advertising, but always had my own ideas and wanted the freedom to create on my own terms. I had a love-hate relationship with the city, and although my time there proved invaluable for the creation of crackpacs, I was always looking for the opportunity to escape. It took being made redundant (twice) for me to take the leap out and start crackpacs in 2017.

Plenty of time was spent plucking up the courage to go it alone, leaving the safety of the monthly salary is one of the most difficult parts. There’s been a couple of false starts along my journey – I love to make and revive old furniture, but it became apparent, I really didn’t have the space to get this started in London. The search for something creative I could do with what I had, and where I was, led me to the sewing machine. 

“To the naked eye, I am a hoarder who keeps things others deem to be skip-worthy. I believe everything has many more uses than their intended purpose, and that waste isn’t waste until you waste it.”