The Trade Shows Every Outdoor Brand Should Have on Their Calendar
Whether you're launching a new backpack line, expanding into technical outerwear, or looking for your next retail distribution partner, trade shows remain one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. They're where trends crystallise, where relationships that sustain businesses for years are formed, and, just as importantly, where you get to see and feel the competition up close.
How to Choose the Right Hardware for Your Backpack
Hardware is where the commercial, technical, and brand briefs intersect. Let us help you make the right hardware decisions for your design.
“Hardware is the unsung hero of every great backpack. A bag can be sewn from the finest fabrics in the world, but if the zipper fails on a mountain trail or a buckle snaps under load, the entire product fails. At Kowide Outdoors, hardware specification is one of the most consequential decisions we make with our OEM customers.” – Kowide Outdoors
The End of Duty-Free Imports: What Our US Customers Need to Know
For years, the US de minimis rule has been the backbone of cross-border e-commerce and just-in-time fulfilment. What will happen now that it has been eliminated?
Kowide Outdoors is a bespoke backpack and technical outerwear manufacturer with our factory in Vietnam near Ho Chi Minh City. With over 50 years of experience manufacturing products for clients worldwide, we have navigated shifting trade winds before, and right now, there's a significant one on the horizon that directly affects our US-based brand partners.
The Iran War, Oil Shock, and the Ripple Effect on Vietnam’s Backpack & Outerwear Manufacturing Industry
The ongoing war involving Iran has triggered one of the most severe global energy disruptions in decades, with consequences that are being felt most acutely across Asia; in particular, within manufacturing hubs like Vietnam. For industries such as backpacks and outerwear, which sit at the intersection of petrochemicals, global logistics, and labor-intensive production, the impact is both immediate and deeply structural.