FREITAG PRODUCTION
Making our bags and accessories calls for tons of used truck tarps, which go through five separate stages to become one-off pieces.
FROM TRUCK TO BAG
It all started in 1993 with the idea of turning a retired truck tarp into a tough messenger bag. These days, FREITAG works with way more than just colorful transport waste — we use a mix of upcycled, recycled, and leftover materials for our bags and accessories. But road-tested truck tarps are still the stars of the show. Here's how they go from the truck to a one-off bag in five stages.
1. FINDING TARPS: OUT SHOPPING IN EUROPE
FREITAG bags are made only from retired truck tarps. But tracking down enough colorful material for around 500,000 products a year? Not exactly easy. Our tarp-supply team scours Europe for the best-looking tarps—up to 280 tons of them every year—and brings them to our HQ in Zurich.
First things first: we test the tarps for harmful substances to make sure FREITAG products are totally safe.
2. TAKING THEM APART: WHERE THE TARPS GET BROKEN DOWN
Now the real work begins. Our team gets hands-on with cutters, pliers and some serious elbow grease, stripping off the straps, buckles and metal parts to turn the tarps into the raw material for beautiful one-offs.
Tarps that are too dry, brittle or thin are sorted out. The good ones are cut into washing machine-friendly pieces and sorted by color.
3. WASHING TARPS: WITH RAINWATER FROM THE FACTORY ROOF
Three giant washing machines clean off all the road grime to reveal the tarps' original character and patina. The rainwater we collect on our factory roof supplies about half the water we need.
We use heat from the dirty water to warm up the fresh water, and at the end of the washing process even recycle the rinse water — by now, almost clean — for the next batch of tarps.
When the tarps come out of the drying room, we decide which bag design suits each piece best.
4. CUTTING TO SHAPE: WHERE BAGS BECOME ONE-OF-A-KIND
Cutting tarp pieces to shape is far more than just hard work. Because it's here — on the bench — that we decide what each FREITAG one-of-a-kind bag will look like.
We use see-through templates for every bag style, lining them up on the tarps to make sure we get the best patterns — and as many bags as possible — from each piece. Some of the cutting is done by hand, some with machines — every cut for every one-off counts.
Then the parts get sent off to our production partners in Europe for stitching.
5. FROM THE SEWING STUDIO BACK TO THE STREET
In Portugal, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and a Zurich-based work integration program, our long-standing partners get down to business on their sewing machines to turn the tough tarp pieces into finished bags.
Back in Zurich, we put them through strict quality checks and take pro-standard photos of each one.
Finally, they head off to FREITAG Stores, partner shops or straight to our customers' doorsteps all over the world from our online store.
CODE OF CONDUCT
For FREITAG, it's vital that we stick to strict social and ecological standards all the way down the supply chain. That's why we and our partners follow a Code of Conduct that regulates the way we work and helps keep everything in our day-to-day business more transparent.
THE FREITAG PROCESS AT A GLANCE
Turning old truck tarps into one-off bags and accessories takes more than just five steps—it’s a whole journey. From its first life on the road to becoming your go-to everyday bag, every FREITAG one-off passes through lots of stages.
By using reclaimed materials and keeping transport distances in the supply chain short, we keep our carbon footprint low, and we’re constantly looking for ways to make it even lower. Want to know what we’ve done so far and what’s next? Check out our Impact Report.
- Truckspotting / Tarp sourcing
- Tarp disassembly
- Sampling
- Testing for substances
- Safety check
- Cutting
- Washing
- Drying
- Final cutting
- Shipping to partners
- Sewing
- Quality control
- Photography
- Shipping
- Sales
