Eco, vegan bags: Freitag

Eco-friendly, will last you a lifetime and look pretty cool - oh and they're made from lorries.

After discovering the brand in Rough Trade, we fell in love. All of their bags are made from recycled car, lorry and bike materials – the actual fabric being the tarp covers on lorries and so every bag is unique. The colour and pattern will depend on the markings of the fabric.

Several bags are made from one piece of tarp and so there's a great connection between the people who purchase each piece of the puzzle.

Truckspotting

To source the material, the brand has to actually look out for trucks that they'd like to use. They scout the best in truck stops around Europe to bring back to Nœrd.

After being cut and washed, the designer will select and match pieces to be turned into a Freitag bag.

The range

Their range of styles is so broad that there's something to match every lifestyle. Because the pattern and colours are so diverse, you don't need to worry about not finding something you'll like. We opted for a neutral toned bag to ensure it went we everything.

Review of the vegan backpack

The style we chose was the Kowalski. It's a roll-top backpack that closes as you pull the straps to wear. This makes it impossible to get into unless you take it off.

This bag fits EVERYTHING. It doesn't look much bigger than your average backpack but because the fabric is so strong, it only needs to be one shell which removes a lot of bulk. This leaves all of the room on the inside to fill. And you can fill it right to the top without worrying about buckling zips - just as long as you can still fold or roll the top over.

The only thing to note is that if you are filling it with a lot of heavy items (as we did with laptops and cameras) the straps are quite thin and not padded so they have a tendency to dig in towards the end of the day. Although no one should be carrying that weight around on their bag in the first place.

We think this makes the perfect commuter bag. It's great for cycling and is completely waterproof. It will obviously leave you hands-free for public transport without worrying that people can get into your bag. There's a great feeling in that security.

This bag will last forever. We've never encountered a bag this strong before.

Price & where to buy

These bags are pricey. But we can't imagine you'd ever need to replace it. Ours has been going strong for 3 years with no sign of wear.

The Kowalski is retailing for £150 but each bag is priced differently according to size and components. But each bag is unique and beautifully crafted.

You can shop online or view their stores around Europe.