Opinion
Expensive school rucksacks: loaded with unnecessary bells and whistles
by Katja Fischer
Let’s ask the manufacturer: what ideas inspired your schoolbags?
4.8.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Michael Restin
Sooner or later, those clunky old schoolbags will have to go. At Ecom Brands in Hamburg, they design backpacks for when kids move past those tired childish patterns. What’s important here? I met the people behind the Audetic brand.
The first shock comes even before school starts. Many parents have no idea what a schoolbag, gym bag and case combo costs. You can easily shell out two to three hundred francs for the most popular models – just a little later, you might wonder why. My kids used to carry merely a few A4 sheets of paper and pencils around in them for their first few years of school. After that, school backpacks became the order of the day from grade four or five onwards.
Here’s where Ecom Brands comes in. The company designs and sells schoolbags under the brand name Audetic, far from any tired cliché. I’m curious to see what they mean by that – and how they differ from my children’s models, of course. «Traditional schoolbags are often bulky, way too colourful and covered in childish prints,» says Timm von Dressler, CEO of Ecom Brands. I met him at the company headquarters in downtown Hamburg. «We wanted a look that older children would still like.»
Audetic is one of five brands managed by a team of 28 people. The other four are aimed at adults, with backpacks and bags from Johnny Urban, Expatrié, Oak25 and Larkson. So, Audetic already had a unique starting point.
«Pretty much all our backpacks are created by our design team,» says von Dressler. «However, we made an exception for Audetic, bringing in an external designer who already had experience in the schoolbag sector and had two children aged 10 and 12 at the time.» After those initial designs, the backpacks were then further developed internally, resulting in three models. The Cosmo stands out in particular for me.
Able to hold 29 litres, it’s comparable in size to the Satch bags (30 litres) that my children and most of their friends now use. We’re an example of how customers can be skilfully led from one brand to another.
What I didn’t know until recently: Satch belongs to the same company as Ergobag (the model before last) and Affenzahn (our kindergarten favourite). Clearly, the people there are doing a good job. Nevertheless, Ecom Brands is looking for a different niche in this market with Audetic, targeting older children and teenagers.
The concept: Audetic wants to be more grown-up, more affordable
Compared to the Satch models I have to push out of the way every day at home, the Cosmo seems less bulky and playful. It’s also cheaper. «We believe that a schoolbag doesn’t have to cost that much while still offering the most important features,» says von Dressler. However, (grand)parents are often quite happy to splash cash when it comes to school equipment for their children.
Schoolbags
How much would you spend on a new model?
- 100 francs maximum65%
- 100 to 200 francs31%
- 200 to 300 francs4%
The competition has ended.
So if things can be cheaper, how did the Cosmo save on its price? Well, I immediately noticed that it doesn’t have a height-adjustable carrier system. «It has to be said, this would make the backpack significantly more expensive,» says von Dressler. «It’s why we’ve focused more on older kids in terms of style. When I look around on the way to work, very few of them are still wearing a height-adjustable backpack.»
There’s definitely something to it. I’d even venture to say that very few carrier systems are regularly adjusted, even among younger kids. Out of ten children, maybe one has their hip belt fastened. With teenagers, most rucksacks just hang on somewhere before being hurled into the corner.
The features: what a schoolbag has to have
Designer Louisa Hein, who sat at the table with us, is in charge of Audetic models. «It was very important to us that we had a well-padded back section and padded straps,» she explains. «There’s also a hip belt, almost like on mountaineering models, designed to distribute weight on top of being removable.» The large Cosmo model has this, while the smaller Aero makes do with back and shoulder pads. And the Flex is already so grown up it looks like a normal daypack.
Louisa Hein opened the three main compartments, revealing the Cosmo’s details: «Many schoolchildren now also bring laptops with them, so there’s a padded laptop compartment as well as space for all their school books and folders.»
It’s a useful difference to our Satch backpacks, which don’t have a special, secure compartment for laptops or tablets, even though these devices are already in use and sometimes even carried along.
In addition to ample storage space and a padded cell phone pocket, the Cosmo also has a small storage pouch and a hook for keys. Incidentally, a good place to put his keys is the only thing my son could think of when asked what he’d change about his Satch backpack.
In general, the right arrangement of compartments is a matter of taste, same for how you use them. Some have every pencil sorted, their worksheets under control and a few coins in the zippered compartment. Others simply cram everything in somewhere without thinking. To them, a schoolbag has to be able to withstand a lot.
The material: school isn’t just a strain on your nerves
«We use a robust and washable base as well as a water-repellent zipper so that books and laptops don’t get wet,» explains Louisa Hein. The main material is made from recycled PET.
«We’ve been using the material since 2017 and haven’t had any negative experiences with it yet,» says von Dressler. «Manufacturers are used to working with recycled materials for the European market.» And European customers are now used to reading «made from recycled PET» in a product description. It’s the same for Satch.
As Ecom Brands sells its products online, they get direct feedback. «During the very first generation of our Audetic backpacks, we had a problem with the zippers,» says von Dressler.
Despite extensive testing, some problems would only occur after months or years. «You gain experience this way, so products develop over time. After five years on the market, any teething troubles have long been resolved.»
I’m not surprised that the problem concerned zippers. They’re made by world market leader YKK, a company that I also visited with a zipper complaint. There, I learned a lot about how complex it is to find the perfect system for a product.
If there’s a problem with that bit, even the snazziest look is of little use. This isn’t just important to young people.
The design: between a skater look and mountain sports
«The design is based a little on the skater style, and you have the option of attaching a board or jacket,» explains Louisa Hein, inspecting the strap and buckle on the back of the Cosmo.
The slightly smaller Aero, with a volume of 21 litres, has an elastic band and reminds me more of mountain sports, although it does without the removable hip belt. Still, it’s well padded on the back and straps.
«Both models are a compromise that makes parents and children happy,» says von Dressler. Ergonomics and reflective details convince some, the look impresses others. At some point, the small case for Airpods, like the Flex has, will become more important. And with that, this simple model without thick back padding will complete our schoolbag era. It doesn’t stand out at university or in the office and should simply be a functional companion.
Nevertheless, instead of borrowing the Flex, I borrowed the Cosmo for three days and wandered around Hamburg with it to get my own impression, taking a few photos for this article along the way. It feels a bit like school, but doesn’t look completely out of place on my middle-aged back.
In my opinion, the Cosmo is an option starting from about 1.50 metres – a size most children reach at age 11 or 12. My favourite detail is the zippers with their colourful pullers. They look interesting, are easy to grip – and in everyday life, I’d definitely be torn if I had to choose a new bag. Kind of like at school. There are good ideas everywhere, not just with the big brands.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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