A few words from the founders.
We'd like to kick off this journal with us reflecting on our journey so far steering our dear Tarvas.
As it often goes life is full of moments which at the time feel insignificant, but when you look back you notice that they were pivotal steps on your way to what you've become.
It's ten years since we got to know each other. We had a small workshop in Helsinki where we could handcraft shoes. Surely, in the beginning, this was only a fun hobby for us shoe aficionados. Having a chance to hop on a tram, ride a couple blocks down to our workshop and work on a shoe there and then really excited us. You see we were used to companies whose operations were scattered all around the world. Companies that oftentimes compromise quality of the end product because of price pressure. Companies that value employees as mere pawns in the game.
When you mix that with the overly exhausting rhythm of the modern world, where there's so much going on, glitchy messages, twitchy images, it lead us to think:
Maybe we could create something of our own?
Something more meaningful.
We should work with likeminded people, treat them with respect and create products and experiences that bring clarity to people's lives. Help people stay true to their own path.
Now that we had planted the seed of values for Tarvas we had to come up with the design for our first product. And we have to thank the harsh Finnish weather for giving us a (wet) push in the right direction.
We were walking down the streets of Helsinki on a rainy Saturday in November. Despite trying to sidestep all puddles of slush we arrived at our workshop with our socks wet. That same day we started prototyping a shoe with a weather protective mudguard piece that went around the entire shoe. We didn't know it then, but looking back at that moment we had come up with the DNA element of our shoe. No, not a logo, but a functional element that will help and protect people on their journeys in life.
Now, we had a clear vision of what we wanted Tarvas to represent and we managed to come up with a product that brought our vision to life.
That gave us a somewhat steady foundation on which to start building Tarvas. Naturally that was only the beginning and the real hard work with hundreds of wrong decisions and struggles were waiting for us. But those little accidents, if that's what you can call them, guided us to kickstart our brand.
As we're typing this, Tarvas is three-and-half-years old and we hope that the same set of values as then reflect the way Tarvas looks and feels today.
As we all know, life is a journey and we live in an ever-changing world, where we hope to offer you a breather from the often so exhausting everyday life.
Yours sincerely,
Harri, Jukka and Pekka
