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Merz b. Schwanen is a German clothing company known to produce on original loop-wheelers with organic materials in Germany.

From 1911 to 2008
Originally, Merz b. Schwanen was founded by Balthasar Merz as "Balthasar Merz beim Schwanen" on the Swabian Alps in 1911 and remained a family owned business until 2008.

Globalization processes dominated the following decades of the 20th century, which caused a decline of the german textile industry because of both, foreign companies and domestic companies, that outsourced parts of their value chain to low-wage countries. Eventually Balthasar Merz beim Schwanen could not keep up with those companies and was forced to close its gates in 2008 due to a lack of orders.

2011 - present
After finding an original Balthasar Merz beim Schwanen Henley shirt at a flea market in Berlin, menswear designer Peter Plotnicki and his wife Gitta teamed up with one of the last remaining textile factories in Albstadt, a small town on the Swabian Jura. After reevaluating the traditional way of production by using the same old sewing machines and receiving the rights to utilize the name "Merz b. Schwanen" from descendants of Balthasar Merz, the brand made was relaunched in 2011. The first Menswear collection was shown at the Bread and Butter tradeshow in January 2011 in Berlin. All products are designed by Peter and Gitta Plotnicki in Berlin, where the company´s headquarter is based. The production is still located in Albstadt. Since its release, Merz b. Schwanen is sold in 13 international countries.

The brand has been collaborating with brands and designers like Nigel Cabourn, Junya Watanabe, Rowing Blazers and Monocle

Production
All Merz b. Schwanen products are entirely made in Germany. The production plant is based in Baden-Württemberg located in the Swabian Jura.

The Merz b. Schwanen production process is known for the use of original loopwheelers -- knitting machines which machines that were used during the early 1900s. Merz b. Schwanen is one of the last remaining manufacturers to produce on original loopwheelers.

The 32 Loopwheelers used by Merz b. Schwanen function differently from the modern knitting machines commonly operated today for shirts and sweatshirt production. The yarn is Warp knitted (in German the verb is „wirken“) with an irregular weaving pattern

The downside: producing on loop-wheelers is a time-consuming process, which compromises the productivity. Completing merely twenty-four rotations per minute, it takes one hour to knit only one meter of loop-wheeled fabric . As opposed to modern machines producing in average 600kg of fabric per day, a loopwheeler cannot produce more than 6kg a day.

Products
The company produces T-shirts, Henley shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, undergarments and socks for men and women with styles referencing vintage workwear and sportswear to contemporary garments. The shirts have been praised by fashion insiders such as Nick Carvell from British GQ as one of the most comfortable, as well as best-looking shirts, one will own.

Most garments are made of organic cotton from Greece or Germany without chemical finishings, with different thicknesses or cotton blends with Viscose or Merino wool.

Another characteristic of Merz b. Schwanen garments is the woven label which is manufactured with a hand-made punch cards on historical looms from the 19th century.