Since it was founded in 2005, Swiss Chriss has gone back to its roots to create Sempach: a range of timeless pieces that draw inspiration from the design and materials of Swiss army gear.
On May 1st thirteen years ago, on the historic battlefield of Sempach, the members of the Swiss Cycle Regiment went proudly on parade for the very last time.

This glorious regiment, phased out after 112 years of honourable service, is known for an impressive record: the longest-serving bicycle in civil and military history, the Ordonnanzfahrrad MO 05.

In 2005, just two years after that historic parade in Sempach, all of these things were going round in the mind of a young guy from Basel.

Spotting a Swiss army sleeping bag while browsing in a flea market, he realised it would make the perfect basis for a range of original, contemporary outerwear.
This was the beginning: a line of different designs of jackets, all featuring the characteristic quilted fabric inspired by army sleeping bags.
First chapter

2015 marks a key development for the brand: Sempach goes back to its roots to reboot its design vision, updating its original source material to craft a clean, pareddown aesthetic. The whole project is functional and rational: no frills, no passing fashions.
Added to the quilting is a series of clean, well-defined details: technical elements sampled from the famed Swiss army backpacks, applied both inside and out, and the same wool used to make army blankets crafted into the inner gilets of the new jackets.
Second chapter

The Sempach journey continues with another mainstay from the same tradition: the field tent.
The new tents feature a range of key elements from the original design, such as the light-weight cotton canvas with its rubberized-look coating, and details like the metal eyelets and the herringbone tape drawstring also used on the storage bags. All new materials and fabrics developed specially for the project were inspired by the rigour and functionality of army gear.
Third chapter

The 17er Kompanie and its parachutes, Sempach’s new source of inspiration. Inspired by parachute fabric, the new quilted ripstop nylon is perfect for crafting outerwear pieces that double up as detachable inner liners. And for the winter season, the laminated cotton designed for spring/summer has been replaced by a heavier cotton that is perfect for colder temperatures, once again inspired by field tents. The models made using this cotton feature specially designed fastenings for the detachable liners that draw directly on the history of the 17er Kompanie. This is another step on a journey based on the same key principles: Swiss Army supplies as source material, great design as a starting point, painstaking attention to detail from start to finish, and function as a style manifesto.
Materials

From sleeping bags to quilted jackets

The fabric modeled after the Swiss military sleeping bags is back, characterised by the padded nylon with diamond quilting, that marked the debut of the first season.


From Swiss army field tents to a brand new cotton wove

The fabric developed for the second chapter (spring/summer 2015) is now replaced by a sturdier, uncoated cotton wove inspired by the material used for field tents.


Rip stop nylon

The Sempach collection now adds ripstop nylon combined with the materials in the first two chapters – quilting and cotton wove. Three models in each material, each in three different colours: blue, military green and black.

