Transforming used truck tarps into highly functional, unique bags takes place in five highly complex stages at the F-actory.
STEP 1: TRUCKSPOTTING
It’s hard to believe with the endless columns of trucks out there on the transport routes, but used truck tarps aren’t just lying around on the street. And especially not the really good ones. Sourcing raw materials for FREITAG may not be Glencore but it is definitely hardcore. To ensure that our 200 F-Workers always have something to do and to eat, our five tarp buyers – also known as truck spotters – have to find and bring back approximately 460 tons of tarps to Nœrd each year. To accomplish this, the truck spotters are on the phone non-stop, or prowling around the truck stops of Europe to hunt down the best tarps in the hottest colors from trucks, truckers and shipping companies.
HARD WORK @ NŒRD: TRUCKSPOTTER – WATCH THE CLIP!
STEP 2: CUTTING TARPS
Freeing tarps from their imprisonment as dirty, bulky truck covers so they can be processed further is no walk in the park. We need men like Thomas to turn the gigantic tarp monsters into R.I.P.s (Recycled Individual Products) by first freeing them of eyelets, straps, belts and anything else that a FREITAG bag doesn’t need. With a sharp eye and an even sharper knife, the toughest boys on the F-Crew see the potential of each tarp that lands on their table. They then hack and carve prime cuts from the scruffy beasts and cut them into standardized 7.8-foot pieces, fold them together and send them off to the Laundry Department.
HARD WORK @ NŒRD: TARP CUTTER – WATCH THE CLIP!
STEP 3: WASHING
What happens in the NŒRD cellar has nothing in common with what you do in your laundry room – even though it might look almost the same. Obviously, bags have to be clean. However, the real work that our tarp washers like Mustapha and Salim carry out is to transform “used” into “patina” and “old” into “vintage” using 3963 gallons of rainwater daily along with our secret tarp-wash bath additive. After they have released the inner beauty of the old tarps and dried them, the tarps are bundled according to color and sent to the bag designers.
HARD WORK @ NŒRD: SCRUBBER – WATCH THE CLIP!
STEP 4: BAG DESIGN
The bag designers ensure that our one-of-a-kind products are not just unique but uniquely beautiful as well. This means creatively working their fingers to the bone. Lara and her co-designers fashion each individual bag by using their templates and cutters to carve the most beautiful and exquisite designs possible from the tarps and then making sure that the rest of the pieces match as well.
HARD WORK @ NŒRD: BAG DESIGN – WATCH THE CLIP!
STEP 5: THE FINISHING
Only prototypes and test bags are sewn at the F-actory. We entrust the sewing of your FREITAG bag to experienced partners in Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, France, Portugal and Tunisia, who understand how to carefully stitch together tarps that are thicker than leather. As soon as the bags are back at Nœrd, we show off our Swiss side and go over the bags with a fine-toothed comb to ensure that everything is in order and then select the products that will end up in a crate together according to the secret FREITAG color scheme. Unique products, which will be sold in the Online Shop, are then put on a pedestal and photographed from all sides.
