Surat - India
January 2025
4:00 Am in Borsad, IndiaI was up late, sick, and couldn’t sleep. Halfway around the world my mother was undergoing an emergency surgery to potentially survive the largest aortic dissection in modern medical history. Needless to say, I was anxious boarding on distraught. A friend’s wedding had brought my brother and I to western India where we had spent the past week exploring. We had no idea such a dire family emergency would enfold at lightning speed and bring our mother to the operating table in a matter of hours. Since we were staying in a smaller town in central Gujarat, it would take nearly 2 full days of travel to reach home in the USA, and we couldn’t arrange transportation for the four hour drive to the closest airport in time. We had to stay put and wait. I can’t recall a time in my life where hours ticked away slower and more painfully than that night. After speaking with my father over the phone, I realized the best thing I could do is try to maintain my sanity and hold on for good news. Just as I had when I was younger, I turned to drawing as a means to calm my nerves and focus my thoughts into something creative. I opened my sketchbook and started filling the page. 
Miraculously, my mother pulled through that night in January of 2025 and I was able to finally get some sleep knowing her surgery was a success. Those fateful hours in-between where I felt locked in a clairvoyant state yielded a two pages of sketching . Once back in Brooklyn I was able to develop this idea into basic schematics for the first prototype of my motorcycle-backpack design. The concept incorporated some unique shapes and sculptural elements that leant themselves well to be crafted from thick, tool-able leather. I think subconsciously I had been looking for a way to apply my knowledge of leather working techniques to a more technical project - and this was the result. 
Anyone who’s been to India can tell you it is a place of extremes. You’ll find excitement, crowded streets, and noise juxtaposed with solitude, nature, and serenity. It’s a land where handicraft reigns, from the humble street artisan to magnificent temples, their hand-carved alabaster pillars rising up from an ancient plaza. It was this setting that made me rethink how I might apply the crafting skills I had acquired from a decade spent working with leather and fabric - just as my trip to Iceland had a year prior. I started formulating a backpack design that would collide my affinity towards natural materials and organic forms with my love for innovative & technical materials. It was so rare to see such an unconventional marriage of worlds, especially in the motorcycle gear universe… …but that challenge was half the appeal. 
Victor flying a kite in the Uttarayan - Gujarat the rough schematics 
In August of 2024, my partner and I had just bought what was to become our first bike, a bright green Kawasaki Ninja 500. Our goal was to train together over what remained of the summer and learn how to properly control a motorcycle. Those nights spent riding around Brooklyn will forever stay in my memory as the beginning of a new & thrilling chapter of my life. Flash forward to November, the two of us had been riding for several months and had come a long way from doing circles in a parking lot. It was time for me to find a bike that would become solely my own, and a gorgeous Yamaha R7 called my name. 
Victor & his Yamaha R7
Angel & his Ninja 500
I spent the next year riding with a group of fellow enthusiasts based in NYC. Together we embarked on weekly adventures across the Tri-State area and made lasting friendships along the way.Riding alongside 100+ other motorcycles up the Hudson Valley, across the farmlands of Northern New Jersey, and through the fabled Poconos of Pennsylvania was a life changing experience. It lead me to dream up an idea for a brand which would embody this feeling - one with an ethos founded at the intersection of adventure and personal connection. Thus Óskabein was born.
Two years, eight prototypes
The process was lengthy and full of trials. I tested dozens of materials, hardwares, thread types, processes, stitches, and joining techniques until eventually I had something workable. The first prototypes accompanied me on hundreds of rides, both long and short, where I compiled endless notes. I kept track of what worked & what didn’t, what felt comfortable, which pockets were most useful, how the bag distributed weight across my back, how the materials faired in the rain, and a myriad of other data points. Along the way I worked with trusted friends, colleagues, and fellow riders who provided insight and expertise. The feedback I got was instrumental in shaping the Motopack throughout its journey from conception to formal launch.
All these records came back with me to my studio where I tireless sought to implement changes and alterations to each iteration of what I was now calling the “Motopack”. By version three, I felt the bag was ready for a proper field test as my pack for a three day trip. I loaded the backpack with clothing, snacks, tools, and supplies and embarked on a 500 mile journey across the Mid-Atlantic from Brooklyn to West Virginia with my companion, Angel. 
NYC Launch Party
A year spent deliberating on colors, material choices, and troubleshooting design features lead to us finally setting up a formal popup in SoHo, New York City. 
from Borsad to boston
It’s now Fall of 2026 and Óskabein and I have come so far from that original sleepless night in India. Through countless iterations on my original concept, hundreds of test rides and consultations, long days in the field followed by long nights in the studio, through many failures and small victories later - here we are. Óskabein has launched and is ready to start supplying bikers, travelers, and thrill-seekers who understand the importance of having high-performing gear. We’re starting out with offering our Motopack V1 handmade-to-order to get our footing in the motorsport world, and will incorporate accompanying products as we grow.Our studio has since relocated to Boston, MA where we enjoy long rides along the majestic seashores and through the fabled woods and townships of coastal New England.