Company History

1899 - 1960

1899

The company's main office is located in Werther, Westphalia, just 10 km from the regional center of Bielefeld, the old linen city.

On August 1, 1899, businessman Heinrich Wilhelm Meyer founded the clothing factory H.W. Meyer with telephone number 2 on Ravensberger Straße in Werther. As further stated in the letterhead: "Mechanical Clothing Factory - Specialty - Blue Work Suits". The number of employees for the production of professional and work clothing quickly grew, and shortly after the turn of the century, the first electrically powered sewing machines hummed in his factory – with these modern manufacturing methods, it was the beginning of a flowing clothing production.

1964 - 1970

1964

Haefner & Co was renamed PIKEUR Reitmoden GmbH. Since then, equestrian apparel has been sold to specialist equestrian retailers under the very successful PIKEUR brand.

1967

H.W. Meyer manufactured wool coats for the premium segment under license from the designer brand "Pierre Cardin, Paris" and launched coats and jackets under its own clothing brand WERTHER INTERNATIONAL from 1968.

1968

WERTHER INTERNATIONAL gained additional international recognition as the official outfitter of the German teams for the Olympic Games in Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972, and Montreal 1976. Thus, the WERTHER coat, as a 'MADE IN GERMANY' product, conquered not only Europe; it also found significant appeal outside Europe as an advertising medium.

1970

In particular, the WERTHER-INTERCITY-COAT, the practical travel coat with its many pockets, became a special success product in the now internationally positioned WERTHER collection.

1971 - 1984

1971

a license for the WERTHER INTERNATIONAL brand was even granted to N.I. Teijin Shoji Co. Ltd. in Japan – to overcome language barriers, the brand there was called BELTER INTERNATIONAL.

1986

Wellington of Bilmore was the first outdoor collection to offer jackets and coats made from the licensed and innovative GORE-TEX functional material. These were then very successfully supplied to international retailers and high-end men's outfitters.

1989 - 2009

1989

the individual brands WERTHER INTERNATIONAL, LUXADOR, PIKEUR, ESKADRON and WELLINGTON of BILMORE were sold.

1990

The newly founded company Wellington Mode GmbH acquired the collection and the trademark rights of WELLINGTON of BILMORE. Since 1990, the company had been based in Bielefeld.

1996

The statement made by the WELLINGTON of BILMORE collection in Anglo-American sportswear style was so successful that a women's collection was launched in 1996

2002

WELLINGTON of BILMORE opens its first own retail store in Bielefeld. From now on, the company also gained its own experience in retail.

2009

a city store will be opened in Bielefeld's Old Town. In the autumn of the same year, the branch in Steinhagen will open.

2011

As the second of four children, Moritz Meyer zu Erpen joined the WELLINGTON of BILMORE team after completing his external training in the textile and clothing industry – he quickly familiarized himself with his new tasks and, after a short time, took over sales management; this marked the beginning of the fourth generation transition.

2017

Moritz Meyer zu Erpen took over Wellington Clothing GmbH with great commitment as the sole managing partner. The handover and the change of leadership to the fifth generation of entrepreneurs had now been completed.

The collection was successfully offered in the online shop as early as December of that year.

2020

Not far from the first company headquarters from 1899, the new and modern company building in Werther was occupied in May 2020. An ecologically conscious, yet contemporary, energy-efficient building technique was implemented in a future-oriented and sustainable manner; ideal conditions for further growth and the demands of the future.