The Name

08/15 is a German expression and could be translated with “something standard”, “something not very creative”. A good translation would be “plain vanilla”.

When I started my venture I had a lot of ideas for company or brand names coming to my mind. In the end, my mobile phone was the decision maker. I found a little note in my mobile phone that read like “create a company that is producing individually designed messenger bags in China and have them shipped via UPS” and this note was created on 15 August 2008, thus was 08/15/2008. From this it was not a far shot to end up with the 08/15 name especially when you consider the nice contrast between the meaning of the German expression and the very creative idea of 08/15 bags.

And this is the history of the expression “08/15”:

Originally 08/15 was the name of one model of the German machine gun MG 08 from the year 1915. Thus the abbreviation is 08/15. It was a water-cooled innovation of the original Maxim machine gun calibre 7,92 × 57 mm and was widely used by the German army during WW I. Because almost all sections of the German army used it and the conical bolt of the 08/15 machine gun was the first industrial part to be standardized in Germany (DIN 1) the name 08/15 became a figure of speech.

After WW II the German author Hans Hellmut Kirst published a three volume novel with the title 08/15 that told a story critical of German and especially Prussian military ethics. This novel became one of the first bestsellers in Germany in the post WW II era.

A movie based on the book was shot immediately directed by Paul May and starring the German actors Hans-Joachim Fuchsberger and Mario Adorf which both became popular stars in Germany later on. But it seems like these movies were rather comedies joking about the lives of soldiers during WW II. I have to admit that I have not watched the movies myself.

Before I came to choose the name 08/15 for my project, some other people used 08/15 for their own aims in a very unpleasant way. Considering the militaristic roots of the expression this may have been unavoidable: From 1991 until 2001 a German Nazi-band named 08/15 became notorious for fascist and anti-semitic parols during their concerts.

I cannot overstate that 08/15 is in no way connected to any fascist, racist or anti-semitic ideas and that our ideal is to create a world where people from all parts of the world have the same chances, opportunities and rights. We are convinced that one way to achieve this goal is to strengthen a middle class in developing countries like China and on the other hand give more information about these countries and their people on my home page. I am convinced that this will contribute to a better understanding between the customers and producers of 08/15 bags.