FREITAG

Kanto | Tokyo - Chuo Ward

Architecture & Design

For the past 20 years, a Swiss bags brand with a very unlikely concept has slowly but surely made its way to the backs of young urban Japanese people.

An alien in Ginza

At the corner of a street located in the first district of Ginza, Tokyo’s high-end shopping and entertainment area, one might notice a store that tends to stand out from its luxurious surroundings. Exposed concrete walls and floor, mirrors, recycled-material modular shelves (Swiss Design Prize), and a workshop atmosphere: since 2011, the first Japanese flagship store of Swiss brand FREITAG has attracted numerous curious soon-to-be-customers.

Yet the main attraction are the products sold there: bags and accessories with a very original design and creative process, so much that they are currently sold at over 350 resellers and 24 Freitag stores all around the world.

To understand FREITAG’s innovative concept and success, one must go back in time to a place that fundamentally inspired the design of its stores: a flat located in the industrial zone of early-1990s Zurich. A flat occupied by two graphic designers: Markus and Daniel Freitag.

Tarpaulins and talent

In 1993, as the two brothers were looking for a functional, water-repellent and robust bag to hold their creative work, their attention was caught by the multicolored heavy traffic that rumbled through the Zurich transit intersection in front of their flat. This gave them the idea to develop a messenger bag from used truck tarpaulins, discarded bicycle inner tubes and car seat belts. The first FREITAG bags were born in the living room of their shared apartment – each one recycled, each one unique.

The first F13 TOP CAT messenger bag has since spawned a full range of over 80 different models for all carrying needs: from smartphone and laptop sleeves via backpacks and on to handbags, shoppers and travel bags. All truck tarps are taken apart, washed and cut to size in the Nœrd industrial complex in Zurich-Oerlikon. FREITAG has not only committed to the circular, closed-loop economy but is also organized in circles: in 2016, the company, which still belongs to the Freitag brothers, abandoned the classical hierarchical structure and replaced it with holacracy, a form of organization based on self-management.

With their innovation, Markus and Daniel inadvertently triggered a revolution in the world of bag making. Their business has expanded from Zurich to the major cities of Europe and spread all the way to Asia, making FREITAG the unofficial outfitter of all urban, bike-riding individualists. No wonder why success was immediate in Japan!

Big in Japan

When the two Swiss brothers arrived in the Japanese archipelago to look for new markets in 1996, the country was in the middle of a "Bicycle Boom". Messenger bags were therefore highly popular, and FREITAG products quickly enjoy a strong popularity among young and urban consumers. Instead of advertising, sole word-to-mouth helped spreading the word. Influence, however, was mutual: the Freitag brother’s "F204 COOPER" model was notably inspired by the bags used by fishermen to carry ice inside Tokyo’s legendary Tsukiji market.

Today, FREITAG bags and accessories can be found at 49 resellers points in Japan, as well as at three flagship stores in Ginza (2011), Shibuya (2013) and Osaka (2018). At the inauguration of the latter in March 2018, hundreds queued around the corner to see the new collections and meet Daniel Freitag, who regularly travels to Japan to handle the brothers' business and find some inspiration! Who knows what will be their next idea?