Freitag is a company that makes unique messenger bag out of tarp recycled from trucks, old seat belts, used airbags and bicycle inner tires.  Each is cut by hand, the design of which keeps some of the original graphics (recontextualized as they say), and is therefore a one-off design.  Apparently, MOMA acquired one of their bag for its permanent collection.   The company started in 1993 by two bike-riding designers living next to the truck route in Zurich …  Check out their site which tells the full story of the company.

Their flagship store located in Zurich West is really a stack of 5-6 containers bolted together with an internal staircase. I suppose hurricane or typhoon is not an issue here.  Part of the uppermost container has been cut away and is used as a truck-spotting platform where one can observe the spaghetti railway lines and highways leaving Zurich.  Not at all intending to shop when we went, but at the end, we each bought a bag.  Despite the riot of brightly colored design on offer, we both ended up with one that is somewhat monochromatic.  Mine is the one that looks particularly dirty which it really isn’t.

Surfside 6 and Bob

Mirrors doubled the length of the container.