Greiff Mode

GREIFF Mode GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of professional clothing (Berufsbekleidung) headquartered in Bamberg, Bavaria. The company traces its origins to 1802, when J. G. Ihle was founded in Greiffenberg, Silesia (today Gryfów Śląski, Poland); the GREIFF name derives from that original home town. Over two centuries the business evolved from linen weaving and blue-printing into a specialist producer of workwear, corporate fashion and hospitality and care uniforms. Today GREIFF positions itself as a full-range supplier of professional apparel for "Professionals." Its product architecture is organized into several lines: GREIFF CORPORATE (business wear for companies, with the sub-collections PREMIUM, MODERN, CASUAL, BASIC and SIMPLE), GREIFF GASTRO (chef and service clothing for hotels and restaurants), GREIFF CARE (modern, functional clothing for healthcare and nursing professions), GREIFF ESSENTIALS (timeless mix-and-match basics) and GREIFF CI-WEAR (individually tailored corporate-identity clothing). The company markets a modular "Baukastensystem" (building-block system) for women and men, and states that GREIFF CORPORATE is the largest stock program of its kind in Europe. Products carry certifications such as FAIRTRADE and OEKO-TEX 100. GREIFF sells directly to businesses and also through dealers, with an outlet channel and a customer-service operation reachable by phone. The company emphasizes fast delivery, high quality, direct-from-manufacturer supply and its own warehouse. It remains a privately held German company (GmbH & Co. KG) and continues to operate under the GREIFF brand in the German-speaking and wider European workwear market.

The company that became GREIFF Mode was founded in 1802 as J. G. Ihle in Greiffenberg, Silesia (today Gryfów Śląski, Poland), producing woven and printed linen. Around the turn of the 20th century it was renamed Schlesische Blaudruckerei AG, shifting its focus to blue-printing, piece goods, other dyed goods and blue-print aprons. In 1917 the business was taken over by Gustav Winkler, a Silesian handkerchief manufacturer with textile experience. Six years later, in 1923, his son Helmut Winkler took over and changed the production program toward workwear (Berufsbekleidung), while also making summer jackets and trousers, motorcycle clothing and hiking fashion. In the 1920s the name was changed again, to GREIFF. In 1930/31 the first assembly lines were installed, transforming the company from a craft operation into industrial-scale manufacturing. A first branch plant was established in Lauban, Lower Silesia, in 1932, followed by two more in Frankfurt an der Oder and Lomnitz in 1933 and 1934. The name was changed again to GREIFF-Werke AG, and piece goods and aprons were spun off into the newly founded Schlesische Schürzenfabrik, also based in Greiffenberg. In the 1930s GREIFF cooperated with I.G. Farben on a new dyeing process using Indanthren; GREIFF-Werke AG was reportedly the first and at that time only company to use this elaborate method. Strong advertising and new offerings allowed the firm to acquire the Lauffenmühle spinning and weaving mill in Unterlauchringen in 1935, expanding into sports jackets and suits for men and boys. In 1936 company representatives first appeared with products at the Leipzig Trade Fair, and two further branch plants were founded in Löwenberg/Silesia and Bärnsdorf in 1937 and 1939. The Second World War halted expansion. Toward the end of the war employees, including managing director Winkler and his wife, fled westward, leaving behind almost all equipment and fabrics. They ended up in Bamberg, reportedly chosen because the Winklers had studied there. Production restarted there the same year with the support of the mayor, in the Gaustadt spinning mill, a branch of the Erlangen-Bamberg cotton spinning works. A first branch in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg, followed. Due to lack of space, a new building was decided in 1947 on a 6,000 m² site on the eastern edge of Bamberg. Two years later 98 employees worked there; by 1950 there were 600. Production space was expanded by 5,000 m², and by 1955 some 1,500 employees were making winter coats and men's suits. In 1957 the workforce reached 2,500, and in 1959 another branch plant opened in Würzburg with 500 employees. At the end of the 1950s the collection style shifted to include fashion accents, and in 1963 GREIFF appeared for the first time at the Herren-Mode-Woche in Cologne. In the mid-1960s a further workwear branch opened in Aub, while the Würzburg plant was converted to HAKA production (men's and boys' suits). At the same time the company sought the European market, first appearing at the SEHM in Paris. Following that fair's success, the first sales warehouses were opened in Belgium in 1966 and Paris in 1968; in the same year a specialized trouser factory was acquired and expanded in Laufach. In 1969 a subsidiary, GREIFF-Herrenbekleidung GmbH, was founded in Vienna to handle all exports to Austria, and the GREIFF collection was shown at the HAKA fair at IMBEX. In the early 1970s exports expanded beyond Europe to Kenya, Egypt, Lebanon, Australia and Canada. At the same time, workforce reductions began: by 1975 GREIFF employed only about 2,000 people, and by 1979 about 1,000 on 168,000 m², as production times were greatly reduced. Management passed through many hands: Johann Gottfried Ihle (1802), Gustav Winkler (1917), Helmut Winkler (1923), Bernd-Dietmar Wendland (1983), Ralph Meincken (1993), Werner Ortmann (1997), Roland Spies (1999), Andrea Fuhrmann-Czermak (2001), Winfried Wagner (2003), Jens Möller and Hans-Peter Beck (2006), and Jens Möller alone from 2021. In the present day GREIFF Mode GmbH & Co. KG operates from Bamberg as a manufacturer of professional clothing, marketing GREIFF CORPORATE, GREIFF GASTRO, GREIFF CARE, GREIFF ESSENTIALS and GREIFF CI-WEAR, with a strong emphasis on stock availability, direct-from-manufacturer supply and certified quality.

• 2021

  Jens Möller becomes sole managing director.

• 2006

  Jens Möller and Hans-Peter Beck become managing directors.

• 1983

  Bernd-Dietmar Wendland becomes managing director.

• 1969

  Subsidiary GREIFF-Herrenbekleidung GmbH founded in Vienna.

• 1968

  Sales warehouse opened in Paris; trouser factory acquired in Laufach.

• 1966

  First sales warehouse opened in Belgium.

• 1963

  First appearance at the Herren-Mode-Woche in Cologne.

• 1959

  Another branch plant opens in Würzburg with 500 employees.

• 1947

  Decision to build a new factory on a 6,000 m² site in eastern Bamberg.

• 1945

  Flight to Bamberg; production restarts there after World War II.

• 1936

  First appearance at the Leipzig Trade Fair.

• 1935

  Acquires Lauffenmühle spinning and weaving mill in Unterlauchringen.

• 1932

  First branch plant established in Lauban, Lower Silesia.

• 1930

  First assembly lines installed, moving from craft to industrial manufacturing.

• 1923

  Helmut Winkler takes over; production shifts toward workwear.

• 1917

  Gustav Winkler takes over the company.

• 1802

  J. G. Ihle founded in Greiffenberg, Silesia, producing woven and printed linen.

Full-range German manufacturer of professional workwear and corporate fashion, offering a modular stock program for women and men across corporate, hospitality and care sectors.

• GREIFF CORPORATE

  Business wear for companies, with sub-collections PREMIUM, MODERN, CASUAL, BASIC and SIMPLE; described as the largest stock program in Europe.

• GREIFF GASTRO

  High-quality chef and service clothing for hotels and restaurants.

• GREIFF CARE

  Simple and modern clothing for healthcare and nursing professions with 100% wearing comfort.

• GREIFF ESSENTIALS

  Timeless, stylish, freely combinable basics.

• GREIFF CI-WEAR

  Individually tailored corporate-identity clothing.

• FLOW styles

  A style line highlighted on the GREIFF homepage, including a new chef shirt.

1. 1Home - GREIFFgreiff.de
2. 2Corporate - GREIFFgreiff.de
3. 3Corporate - GREIFFgreiff.de
4. 4Damengreiff.de
5. 5Greiff Modewikidata.org
6. 6Greiff Modede.wikipedia.org