The Switzerland Traveler

I’m not a bag man. Not in the sense that we used to talk about bag ladies in the 80s and 90s; someone who carries their entire possessions in a bag; nor in the sense that I’m the sort of bloke that carries a man bag.

But if there is one company that could convince me to change it would be Freitag.

Daniel and Markus Freitag started their company back in 1993, after having the idea of making bags out of the canvas sides from trucks. And used seatbelts, obviously.

As most trucks have the names and logos of a company on the side, the bags end up very colourful and, most importantly, completely unique.

The company’s website www.freitag.ch has a tool that allows you to design your own bag from tarpaulins currently in stock, which sounds like fun, but as their logo says, you bear the responsibility for how it turns out.

  It’s probably wiser to take a trip down to the revitalized Züri-West area of town, down by Escher-Wyss Platz.

The company has it’s showpiece store there, built of recycled containers, piled high to make one of Zurich’s tallest buildings. That’s not that high by most cities standards, but Zurich has strict planning regulations and I’ve no complaints about that.

If you can’t imagine what a bag made out of recycled truck parts would look like, here’s an idea but it’s probably best to get on the number 13 tram and see them for yourself.

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