If you are in search of a new bag this holiday season you HAVE to check out Freitag. Totally unique, durable, and upcycled. They make a perfect gift and we have been using them at SEVENSEAS Media for years.
In 1993, graphic designers Markus and Daniel Freitag were looking for a functional, water-repellent and robust bag to hold their creative work. Inspired by the multicolored heavy traffic that rumbled through the Zurich transit intersection in front of their flat, they developed a messenger bag from used truck tarpaulins, discarded bicycle inner tubes and car seat belts. This is how the first FREITAG bags took shape in the living room of their shared apartment – each one recycled, each one unique.
With their innovation, the brothers inadvertently triggered a seismic event in the world of bag making. Its tremors have since made themselves felt in Zurich and the cities of Europe and spread all the way to Asia, making FREITAG the unofficial outfitter of all urban, bike-riding individualists.
FREITAG CLASSIC L, THE ORIGINAL BAGS
Take a look at the original design but don’t stop here because there is a shape and size for any occasion. These bags are to be admired at the MoMA in New York, to be acquired in selected shops worldwide. The FREITAG TOP CAT and DRAGNET rank as classics among messenger bags. First created in the early 1990s, they are not a short-lived niche product but have set the standards in regard to design, quality and functionality. Then as now, the bags are distinguished by the striking concept and execution: handmade from used truck tarpaulins, bicycle inner tubes and car seat belts, the FREITAG Classics are a loyal companion to see you through the decades. After all, the materials used have already travelled far and wide and are hardwearing.
The FREITAG Classics have spawned many imitators in the last twelve years. Good thing for FREITAG: the more numerous the copies, the more FREITAG established itself as a must-have product. Also because each individual bag is a unique product, as individual as the wearers themselves. FREITAG bags are available in all manner of colours, from a smudged white and pastel yellow combo to Ferrari red – depending on the tarps coming off the world’s highways into the FREITAG lab. at the time.
The Classics TOP CAT and DRAGNET are the original «individual recycled freeway bags», sturdy, stable, unique and highly versatile. TOP CAT and Dragnet are extendable in two steps and come equipped with an inner and outer pocket as well as a hip belt for urbane frequent bikers. The TOP CAT measures 430 × 120 × 360 mm, the DRAGNET 360 × 120 × 330 mm.
The very first version of the TOP CAT – then a dirty shade of grey and somewhat crude in its form – is held by Zurich Museum of Design. Since 2003, the FREITAG TOP CAT can be found in the design collection of the MoMA in New York.
Shop online at freitag.ch