The Founder
HOJO originates from Liverpool, England and started his bag design career when he was a little boy. His first prototype bag was drawn on the wall of his father's garden shed. He used to do all different paintings of the flowers growing in and around the shed while his mother was working at home as a tailor. The first bag made by HOJO was his school bag when he was only 13yrs old. Beginning as a drawing on the back of his school textbook, he sewed up the bag in the middle of the night while his mom was sleeping. He used the leftover materials from his mom's inventory and his first bag was born.
At school, his multi-coloured bag became famous and soon his friends wanted one, too. He gave the first bags away for free. They were so happy that they kept hugging him. HOJO liked the hugs so much that he called his bags HUGGER bags. Later at school, he got a new nickname, Hugger.
HOJO decided to start his own business making bags and partnered up with his designer friend in England making HUGGER Bags and selling to retail stores. After generating enough cash flow, he moved to Hong Kong to setup an office where he believed it to be the best location to enter the world of manufacturing. His partner, TJ, remains in England to take care of the design team while HOJO is staying in Hong Kong to take care of the production side.
HOJO did not know anyone in Hong Kong when he first got in, so he visited different bag factories to find a reliable supplier. During his factory visits, he met his future business partner, TY, who was helping his uncle run his bag factory. They shared the same vision and philosophy, and later TY became one of the business partners of HUGGER.
The Philosophy of Hugger is Simple.
"Everybody needs a hug and HUGGER Bags feel like a hug! Not only that, the bags hug what is on the inside (laptops/cameras) and the outside (environment)."
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