FREITAG Store Shanghai by Harbook+

THINKING IN CYCLES
THE NEW FREITAG STORE SHANGHAI

On September 26, 2018, Swiss bag manufacturer FREITAG opens its first store in China, located in the French Concession district of Shanghai and operated by the local concept store Harbook+.

In 1993, FREITAG was founded by graphic designers Daniel and Markus Freitag with the idea of making individual bags from recycled truck tarpaulins for their daily bicycle commute. Since then, the coincidence between “bicycling” and “recycling” has been at the core of the brand, visible in recycled tarp and bikeable designs all the way down the line.

FREITAG thinks and acts in cycles. This philosophy is more than mere wordplay: FREITAG uses recycled rainwater to wash tarps and sources materials that are either recycled or recyclable. And after 25 years, FREITAG still endorses bicycles as the single best mode of urban transportation. Considering all this, we figured it was high time we opened the first FREITAG Store in the “land of bicycles”, in the very city where the new dockless-bicycle-sharing movement first got on the road. 

The store is located at 758 Julu Road in the French Concession district of Jing An, where “Shanghai Hu Guang Electronic Instruments” had their operations back in the 1950s. The FREITAG Store Shanghai takes the location back from digital to analog and from industrial to individual with messenger bags, totes, backpacks, handbags and accessories that are cut from recycled truck tarps, making each product visibly unique. 

The FREITAG Store Shanghai is the brand’s 23rd shop worldwide and is operated by the brand’s reseller Harbook+, who are known for their curated selection of fashion, furniture and magazines. On two floors spanning 150 sq. m. (1615 sq. ft.), the store will stock no fewer than 1100 individually designed bags to choose from. And looking to the distant future, if and when your trusty bag starts showing signs of age from years of use, there’s no need to send it back to the FREITAG factory to be refurbished because the new FREITAG store has a repair unit of its own. Now that’s what we call self-sufficiency!

Store design: by FREITAG
Project execution: by IIA Atelier (It Is Architecture), Tokyo

FREITAG Store Shanghai by Harbook+
Building 3, No. 758 Julu Road, Shanghai 200040

Opening times: 
Mon - Fri 11am-8pm
Sat - Sun 11am-9pm

Storelocator

Instagram: @freitagbyharbook