Top textile companies in Germany

Textile companies in Germany

The textile companies in Germany are a large industry, although not as large as some of its competitors. Nevertheless, it is the second largest industry, just below the food and beverage industry in Germany. That said, Germany still employs just over 120,000 people in the industry, which is smaller than countries like Thailand which employ 200,000 of them.

Germany has a strong relationship with the United States for apparel and is second only to the United States as the largest importer of apparel. Germany actually imports mostly from Bangladesh, China, and Turkey.

Apart from the apparel industry, Germany's largest textile industry is in technical textiles. These include products like filters, composite products, and outerwear that do everything from repel germs to water. Technical textiles are basically products made with the same processes used to make regular textiles but used for technical purposes rather than for traditional purposes such as clothing which is called the evolution of textiles.

Top textile companies in Germany

There are top textile companies/brands in Germany as below-

i. Adidas AG

ii. NKD

iii. Esprit

iv. FALKE

v. Rimowa

vi. Marc O'Polo

vii. Balta Group

viii. SAERTEX

ix. ALSCO Germany

Adidas AG

Adidas AG is the top textile company in Germany.  It is founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, and it designs and manufactures footwear, apparel and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second largest in the world after Nike. The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's home. He joined his older brother Rudolf in 1924 as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik. Dassler helped develop spiked running shoes (spike) for multiple athletic events. In 1949, after a breakdown in relations between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf founded Puma, which became Adidas's business rival. Adidas manufactures a variety of clothing items ranging from men's and women's t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants, and leggings. The first Adidas clothing item was the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit, which was produced in 1967. Adidas AG is the largest manufacturer of sports bras in Europe and the second largest manufacturer in the world. Adidas' revenue for 2018 was listed at 21.915 billion euros. In March 2022, Adidas sold Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for Canadian $2.5 billion.

NKD

NKD is one of the top textile companies in Germany. Burkard Hellbach opened the first retail store, NK Discount, in Essen-Rüttenscheid, Germany, in 1962. NKD is a German clothing discount store chain headquartered in Bindlach, Germany. It is the leading value retailer among clothing discounters and offers a wide range of current seasonal fashion products for the whole family, as well as home textiles and home accessories. NKD primarily uses high-quality products at attractive prices to target female consumers aged 30 to 64 who shop for their families. With several brands based on current trends, fast-changing seasonal collections, and brand star campaigns. NKD stores provide their customers with a wide range of offerings. For example, NKD has expanded its product range with categories such as teenage and sports fashion, as well as household hardware and home textiles. With around 2,000 stores in Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, an online shop, 9,000 employees, and revenues of €737 (2019) million. NKD is one of Germany's largest fashion retail companies.

Esprit

Esprit is also one of the top textile company in Germany. Esprit Holdings Limited is a publicly owned manufacturer of apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, and home goods under the Esprit label. The company is headquartered in North Point, Hong Kong, and Ratingen, Germany. The first joint fashion line founded by Susie and Doug Tompkins was sold out of a VW bus and was headquartered in Tompkins' apartment in San Francisco. Susie took over the creative and Doug Tompkins's financial role in the business. Their sales success at the time (the mid-60s) was their original "Big Mama", Helene W. Japhe, who agreed to represent them exclusively as their sales agent, took their line "on the road" and met with great success. After the company and Helene Japhe's departure from San Francisco, the business continued to thrive under more professional administration and management until the US recession and eventual sale to a Hong Kong firm. In the 2019-2020 business year, Esprit generated sales of approximately €1.05 billion worldwide (as of 30 June 2020). Esprit operates 225 retail stores worldwide and distributes products to more than 4,500 wholesale locations worldwide. Esprit has over 234,000 square meters of retail space in 30 countries.

FALKE

FALKE is another one of the top textile companies/houses in Germany. Since 1895, the Falke family business has stood for fashionable clothing made from high-quality materials, finished with handcrafted perfection and attention to detail. The FALKE scene is made up of multilingual globetrotters, headstrong individuals, curious adventurers, fanatical perfectionists, sensitive creative types, and uncompromising aesthetes. Their images, their interior design, and their clothing are visible expressions of their instincts. They constantly keep them in mind to follow the perfect design and best quality of craftsmanship. Friends who share their principles expect their understanding of aesthetics to be perfectly translated into modern clothing. They create jumpers, bodies, fine tights, and legwear whose designs help translate their shared sense of style into reality with harmonious fabrics and colors. The number of employees was 3.3K, and the revenue was $975.1M.

Rimowa

Rimowa GmbH is a high-quality luggage manufacturer. The company was founded in 1898 in Cologne, Germany. Its suitcases are widely known for their parallel aluminum grooves, which have become a hallmark of the brand. The company's headquarters and production have been located in Cologne for 120 years. In October 2016, RIMOWA joined LVMH, becoming the group's first German company. From 2017 to 2021, the company was managed by Alexander Arnault. Hugues Bonnet-Masimbert takes over as CEO in 2021. The number of employees was 2.4K, and the revenue was $781.8M.

Marc O'Polo

Marc O'Polo is one of the top textile companies/brands in Germany. Marc O'Polo met in Stockholm in 1967 with two Swedes-German, Rolf Lind and Got Huss, and an American, Jerry O. sheet. In 1972, the label introduced logo-printed, cotton T-shirts and introduced a unisex sweatshirt. The first Marc O'Polo store opened in Düsseldorf in 1979. In 1997 the company's original distribution partner for Germany, Werner Bock, expanded its shareholding and formed Mark O'Polo International GmbH, which today is responsible for design and all company activities. From production to distribution and marketing. The three founders' first collection piece is a patchwork shirt made of hand-woven Indian cotton. The number of employees was 1899 (2014), and the revenue was €472 million (2018/2019).

Balta Group

The Balta Group was established in 1964 and is renowned as a professional, customer-centric business specializing in the manufacture of carpets and rugs for homes and businesses, and non-woven textiles. Balta is Europe's largest manufacturer of textile floor coverings. Part of Balta Victoria PLC since April 2022. Its main products are woven carpets (Balta Home), broadloom carpets for the residential market (Balta Carpets), and needle felt and technical non-wovens (Captiqs). It has six manufacturing sites worldwide, including four in Belgium and two in Usak (Turkey), and two distribution centers in the United States. With around 2500 employees worldwide, the Balta Group is known as a professional and customer-oriented company specializing in the production of carpets and rugs for residential use and non-woven textiles for the construction, geotextile, automotive, printing, and exhibition sectors.

SAERTEX

With annual revenues of approximately 350 million euros, the family-owned company SAERTEX® is the global market leader in the manufacture of multiaxial fabrics and core materials for the manufacture of fiber-reinforced composites. Customers in the aerospace, automotive, sports, and boat-building industries rely on SAERTEX® reinforcement materials made from glass, carbon, and aramid fibers for lightweight, increased stiffness, and corrosion resistance. Especially in segments such as shipbuilding, railways, oil & gas, and construction, the company offers additional services to help customers convert steel to composite components which is from calculations and process development to serial part production. With approximately 1,400 employees and 14 production sites on five continents, as well as an active distribution network in more than 50 countries, the SAERTEX® Group is positioned globally to meet the growing demand for advanced technology composite solutions.

ALSCO Germany

The story begins in 1889. Before George A. Steiner, at age 15, had the idea to start his own towel service in Lincoln, Nebraska, no textile service business existed. On a part-time basis, he delivers clean towels to small companies and takes away dirty textiles. At that time it was customary to roll wet towels with wooden rollers, hang them up and use them again when dry. Replacing dirty towels with clean ones was a rare luxury at the time. He initially invested $50.80 for a delivery route from Lincoln Steam Laundry. Two years later he brought in his younger brother Frank M. Steiner as a business partner. As the economy and thus business grew, the brothers moved to hand delivery, bicycle delivery, and horse-drawn cart transportation. The Alsco Company specializes in workwear and can look back on a long tradition in Germany. 1500 employees are on duty and also around 250 service vehicles deliver work clothes to around 20,900 customers every day.