Company history

1899 - 1960

1899

The company's headquarters are located in Werther Westfalen, just 10 km from the major center of Bielefeld, the old linen city.

On August 1, 1899, the merchant Heinrich Wilhelm Meyer founded the HW Meyer clothing factory on Ravensberger Strasse in Werther with telephone number 2. As the letterhead reads: "Mechanical clothing factory - specialty - blue worker's suits" . The number of employees producing professional and work clothing grew quickly and shortly after the turn of the century the first electrically operated sewing machines were whirring away in his factory - with these modern manufacturing methods, it was the beginning of a continuous clothing production.

1964 - 1970

1964

The company Haefner & Co was renamed PIKEUR Reitmoden GmbH. Since then, riding clothing has been sold to equestrian retailers under the very successful PIKEUR brand.

1967

HW Meyer manufactured wool coats for the premium segment of the designer brand “Pierre Cardin, Paris” under license and from 1968 onwards brought coats and jackets onto the market under its own clothing brand WERTHER INTERNATIONAL.

1968

WERTHER INTERNATIONAL also became internationally known as the official outfitter of the German teams for the Olympic Games in Mexico 1968, Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976. The WERTHER coat, as 'MADE IN GERMANY', not only conquered Europe; this advertising medium also found considerable popularity outside of Europe.

1970

The WERTHER-INTERCITY-COAT, the practical travel coat with its many pockets, has become a particularly successful product in the now internationally positioned WERTHER collection.

1971 - 1984

1971

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

1986

Jackets and coats from WELLINGTON of BILMORE were the first outdoor collection to be equipped with the licensed and innovative functional material GORE-TEX. These were then very successfully supplied to international specialist retailers and high-quality 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 brand rights of WELLINGTON of BILMORE. The company had been based in Bielefeld since 1990.

1996

The statement of the WELLINGTON of BILMORE collection in the 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 gains its own experience in retail.

2009

A city store is opened in Bielefeld's old town. In the autumn of the same year, the branch in Steinhagen opens.

2011

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

2017

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

The collection was successfully offered in the online shop in December of this year.

2020

In May 2020, the new and modern company building in Werther was moved into, not far from the first company headquarters in 1899. An ecological, contemporary, energy-efficient construction technology was implemented in a future-oriented and sustainable manner; ideal conditions for further growth and the requirements of the future.