Facts & Figures

Headquarters: FREITAG lab. ag / Nœrd industrial complex, Zurich-Oerlikon 
Founding year: 1993
Company owners: Markus and Daniel Freitag
Employees: around 250
 
Production (2022): around 500,000 bags and accessories
 
Material usage (2022): about 280 tonnes of used truck tarps, 700 km of B-stock car safety belts, 57,000 B-stock bicycle inner tubes and 70,000 m2 of recycled PET textile
 
Products: about 40 bags and 30 accessories
 
Product-related services: repairs, customization (F-Cut & FREITAG Yourself Stations), free bag exchange platform (S.W.A.P.), and take-back (for circular products).
 
Number of stores: 30 FREITAG stores (six in Switzerland, six in Germany, four in Japan, three in South Korea, three in Thailand, two in Shanghai, two in the Netherlands, one each in Vienna, Milan, Taipei, and Melbourne), around 300 sales partners in 23 countries and online stores based in Zurich-Oerlikon and Shanghai.

Selected awards:

• 2023: Green Product Award Fashion Winner in the "Accessories" category for F385 CIRC-CASE
• 2023: ADC Switzerland, Bronze in the "Digital" category for F-Cut
• 2023: Core77 Design Awards, Runner-up in the "Apps & Platforms" category for F-Cut 
• 2023: Core77 Design Awards, Runner-up in the “Sustainability” category for F385 CIRC-CASE
• 2023: European Design Awards, Bronze in the "E-Commerce" category for F-Cut
• 2023: Best of Swiss Web, Gold in the "Creativity" category for F-Cut
• 2023: Swiss Plastics Expo Awards, winner in the "Sustainability" category for F385 CIRC-CASE
• 2022: 1 x Gold Lovie and 1 x People's Lovie in the "Websites: Best Design – Aesthetic" category, 1 x Silver Lovie and 1 x People's Lovie in the "Websites: Retail and Shopping" category for F-Cut
• 2022: Dezeen Public Vote Winner in the "Wearable Design" category for F707 STRATOS
• 2022: Frame Awards winner in the "Accessories" category for F707 STRATOS
• 2022: FREITAG is the first Swiss company to be awarded the "Circular Globe" label (Level: Advanced). The model developed by SQS and Quality Austria assesses the maturity level of organizations regarding the circular economy.
• 2022: Gold ADC Switzerland for the movie "F707 STRATOS – BETTER "B" THAN BOOM"
• 2021: Special Edi for Production Design and Silver Edi in the Commercials category for the "F707 STRATOS - BETTER "B" THAN BOOM" movie
• 2020:  Deezen Awards (Public Vote Winner) in the category "Small Retail Interior of the Year" for FREITAG SWEAT-YOURSELF-SHOP
• 2020: Frame Awards (People's Choice) in the category Single-Brand Store of the Year for FREITAG SWEAT-YOURSELF-SHOP
• 2020: Frame Awards (Jury Prize) in the category Exhibition of the Year for UNFLUENCER - DE-SINNING THE DESIGNER
• 2019: Best of Swiss Web Gold in the Creation category for CITY GUIDE LINES
• 2018: Gold Edi for "We are kickstarting the ZIPPELIN" movie in the Corporate - Product category
• 2017: Best of Swiss Web Gold in the Creation category for freitag.ch
• 2017: Gold Edi for "Truckin’", the "Tarp Blanche" animated movie by Neil Stubbings in the Corporate - Brand/Image category
• 2016: 2x Gold ADC Switzerland and ADC of Europe as well as Silver Clio Award for the movie "The Never-Ending Cycle of Denim"
• 2015: The German Federal Ecodesign Award for F-ABRIC in the Product category
• 2015: Silver ADC for the publication "On the Road to F-ABRIC" and bronze for the F-ABRIC screw-cap button
• 2014: European Design Awards, gold for the REFERENCE product catalogs "AGED 10 YEARS"
• 2013: "SwissAward" 2012 in the Business category
• 2012: GfM marketing prize – Annual prize from the Foundation for Marketing in Corporate Management
• 2012: Gold EDI for the F60 JOAN Movie in the Corporate Film category
• 2011: Des MERIT for continuous services in the field of design of Daniel and Markus Freitag
• 2011: 6th Zurich entrepreneur award for innovative, sustainable and commercially successful work of Daniel and Markus Freitag
• 2011: Silver EDI for F48 Hazzard Backpack Movie in the category corporate movie
• 2010: Silver for FREITAG REFERENCE from the magazine Hochparterre in the category Design
• 2009: Distinction, Design Preis Schweiz for the rack model "V30 FREITAG SKID"
• 2009: Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany: Gold for the F-Store in Zurich in the Product Design category
• 2008: Gold for the F-Store in Zurich at the 8th International contractworld.award
  - 1. Award for Marketing and Architecture for the F-Store in Zurich
  - Best of Swiss Web: Gold seal in the Business Efficiency category, Silver seal in the Creation category, Bronze seal in the Technology Quality category
• 2007: D&AD Global Awards, Golden Pencil for Environmental Design / Retail & Services
• 2006: Bronze for the photo series "FREITAG RENEGADE" by the Art Directors Club Switzerland in the category Photography / Illustration
• 2005: Dragnet was presented at the Who’s Next Fashion trade show in Paris as one of the milestones of "urban fashion"
• 2003: Master of Swiss Web for the F-CUT as best Swiss Website
• 2003: Gold for the F-CUT by the Art Directors Club Europe in the category of New & Mixed Media / Interactive Media
• 2003: Gold for the F-CUT by the Art Directors Club Switzerland in the category of Electronic Publishing
• 1999: Distinction awarded in the Trade Competition for Applied Arts, Switzerland
• 1997: Distinction, Design Prize Switzerland

Exhibitions:

• 2023: The F13 TOP CAT Messenger Bag is part of the «Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design» exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA)
• 2023: The FREITAG repair service is included in the «Repair Revolution!» exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich 
• 2022: The Red Dot Museum in Singapore devotes a solo exbition to FREITAG featuring bags from the archive
• 2021: The F12 DRAGNET Messenger Bag is part of the «Bags: Inside Out» exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London
• 2015: The Freitag brothers are given a carte blanche by the musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains (mudac) in Lausanne. The result is the FREITAG AD ABSURDUM exhibition featuring Frank & Patrik Riklin
• 2015: The Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) Vienna hosts the F-ABRIC exhibition entitled «The process of permanent, residue-free change»
• 2012: The Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, devotes a solo exhibition to FREITAG from April 3 thru July 29: «FREITAG - Out of the Bag»
• 2003: F13 TOP CAT model is included into the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA)
• 1997: The 1993 FREITAG prototype is included in the collection of the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich

Publications:

• 2016: The FREITAG AD ABSURDUM exhibition featuring Frank & Patrik Riklin results in a publication of the same name
• 2012: The second FREITAG book published by Lars Müller Verlag bears the title "FREITAG – Out of the Bag". The editor is the Museum of Design in Zurich
• 2010: During the launch of their new FREITAG REFERENCE the company issues a compilation of their experimental newspaper "THE DAILY REFERENCE"
• 2001: FREITAG book published by Lars Müller Verlag