Spencer Nikosey, an ArtCenter College of Design graduate, started KILLSPENCER in 2009 as a personal project to build his own sustainable, waterproof backpack. After touring Incase's factories in China with a friend and seeing what it would take to oversee manufacturing from that distance, he decided to build his own small factory in Los Angeles instead. Everything is still designed, made and sold out of the brand's Silverlake workshop and storefront, centered on leather bags, backpacks and military-influenced gear.