Eco-Fashion: A sustainable fashion company since 1993
In Switzerland, everyone knows about FREITAG, the fashion company who produces bags and accessories from old truck tarpaulins, bicycle inner tubes, and car seat belts. The creative idea of two brothers living in Zurich became a worldwide known successful company, with 16 F-Stores, more than 450 resellers all over the world and an online shop with more than 5000 different and unique products.
The sustainability of the company does not only consist on the usage of recycled raw materials. The factory’s building and the production cycle have been developed in order to follow the founders’ vision: simplicity, longevity, and sustainability; together with the concepts of recycling and recontextualization. To give a few examples, the production line uses around 15’000L of rain water to wash the truck tarpaulins – which is collected from the factory’s rooftops – and the relatively clean water is reused for more washing cycles. Half of the energy used in the factory comes from waste power plants, and most of the production takes place in Zurich, so it does not cause useless transport costs and greenhouse gases emissions. The latest creation of the two brothers consists in a completely new way of creating clothes. As they were not satisfied with the fabric available on the market, they decided to create a sustainable one themselves. The fabric of their new clothing line is 100% naturally biodegradable and is produced within 2’500km of the factory in Zurich.
Thanks to the creation of sustainable fashion products, the Freitag-brothers indirectly encourage fashion lovers to question the sustainability of other clothing and accessorize lines. If customers start to ask for more sustainably produced fabrics and products, then the exploitation of resources and raw materials could be substituted for a long term by increased recycling, re-usage and recontextualization of the same; while increasing the possibility of being a sustainable society.
Sources :
https://www.freitag.ch/en/media/about/noerd
https://www.freitag.ch/en/about
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2015/mar/24/composting-clothes-sustainable-materials-biodegradable
Image:
https://www.freitag.ch/en/about/production%20
