A look inside FREITAG's Zurich factory

In the city of Zurich, where bikes are the way of transport par excellence, FREITAG bags are one of the most popular accessories. Walking through the streets of the Swiss city, it is impossible to look around without noticing the countless number of passers-by whizzing through Zurich wearing a FREITAG cross-body bag, a detail that does not go unnoticed thanks to the bright colours of these accessories and their uniqueness. The reason why each FREITAG item is unique turns out to be the key to the brand's success; a stroke of genius born in the minds of the founding brothers Markus and Daniel Freitag back in 1993, who observed passing trucks in the Oerlinkon area and realised that the durable and waterproof qualities of the tarps of the trucks would be perfect for a messenger bag. Today, where the Freitag brothers began to build the DNA of their brand, the container tower of the flagship store rises. This week, on the occasion of the brand's 30th anniversary and the launch of a new project focused on circularity, we were invited to learn first-hand about FREITAG's creation and testing processes at the company's headquarters.

The factory of Nœrd

The process of creating FREITAG products begins with sourcing materials. On the top floor of the Nœrd factory, located right next to the company's headquarters, a team of experts contacts truck companies to obtain their vintage or damaged tarps. After being freed of their straps and metal seals, these huge PVC fabrics are washed with soap and water - 50% of the water used in this factory is rainwater - in large washing machines, a process that reuses the heat used for washing from one cycle to another. At this point, these large waterproof fabric are dried and taken to the factory floor where the design studio is located, where FREITAG's creatives take care of pattern, cutting and product design. Precisely because each item is made to measure with unique tarps, the design of each product is unique and unrepeatable. According to the company's own figures, 400,000 bags and accessories are produced each year, which means that over a 12-month period, FREITAG takes an equally staggering number of photos of its products.

FREITAG's circularity goals 

FREITAG has been committed to sustainability since the brand's inception, but while in the 1990s the company simply relied on the reuse of materials that would otherwise have been thrown away, it is now looking for production alternatives to make the life of its items circular. Repairing, a customer service available since FREITAG's creation, has been joined in recent years by Swap, a project that helps customers exchange bags with one another, and Rent a bag for free, which allows anyone in the world to rent a suitcase for the duration of a holiday in exchange of a social media post. The company is now focusing on the improvement of the materials making up the tarps, not only testing new ideas in its own workshops, but also starting conversations with the actual truck companies. Being PVC, tarps cannot yet be recycled, so FREITAG is looking for new, more sustainable formulas, such as the Circular Truck Tarp, still in the process of being developed and tested. New projects include i-Phone covers and a backpack made entirely from the polyamide of old ski boots, two more manageable products in terms of recycling and repairability, presented by FREITAG during Milan Design Week last April. These experiments are joined by F-Cut, the website offering customers the chance to design their own bag, and the F-Store, where you can choose the components of a shopper bag with your own hands, later assembled - and signed - by one of FREITAG's designers.