Several generations in the service of perfect bedding: the story of Christian Fischbacher
In the Swiss Alps, there is a now world-famous manufacturer of bed linen, home textiles and wallpaper, whose owners are numbered just like aristocrats do with themselves. But what else can you do with that when everyone has been called Christian Fischbacher for centuries? The brand marked by their name is a perfect example of how not only loudness can make its way in the design world, but also restrained elegance.
Since the 13th century, the Swiss city of St. Gallen has been the center of linen production and trade. Until the Industrial Revolution, the “white gold” was woven only by hand and bleached with pure Alpine water and the sun’s rays. The first Christian Fischbacher to start working in the textile industry was born in 1803 as the son of a farmer in St. Peterzell in eastern Switzerland, where, at the age of just 16, he founded the brand in 1819, which is now available in more than 1,200 luxury stores and shops worldwide. (Here in Switzerland, you can browse the collections at the Leguan Exclusive multibrand store in the MaxCity Shopping Center.) He himself would not have thought that the bumpy road would lead him this far, which we should take literally, since he had to walk 30 kilometers from St. Gallen fair to sell the cotton they bought from the local farmers. The business, albeit slowly, allowed the family to move to the city in 1854, where they purchased the property at Oberer Graben 24 – where the company operated for the next twenty years. This period was very prosperous for the local industry, as there was a great demand for embroidered Swiss linen products from all over Europe, Russia and America. The Fischbachers also grew richer and richer until they outgrew their house and moved to a larger building at Vadianstrasse 6, to which they soon bought the house next door. By then, their two sons were also working in the company, and it was time for a new generation.
The Christian Fischbachers are professionals in crisis management
World War I was not kind to St. Gallen textiles, which can also be considered a luxury product, and many companies were forced to close. However, Christian Fischbacher II, born in 1845, managed to turn the company around during the difficult years, with the help of his wife, whom the employees called “Mama”. He established and managed the handkerchief/textile handkerchief business, which survived until the 1990s. Interestingly, one of the invoices signed by the company manager in 1892 was the inspiration for the company’s pearl-letter logo that is still in use today. Their son, Otto Christian Fischbacher, proved to be a similarly good crisis manager, and the factory did not close during the Great Depression. He was known as a great traveler, visiting Africa, the Middle and Far East, and was an enthusiastic buyer of Giovanni Segantini’s paintings, and his collection is now in the St. It can be seen in the Segantini Museum in St. Moritz. IV. Christian Fischbacher was born in 1915, the youngest of four children, but as the name suggests, he became the fourth generation director of the company. After studying in Switzerland and England, he joined the company at the age of 21, which he left at the age of 24 for the USA.
While his father ran the family business, the young son moved to New York to found the company’s first subsidiary. He soon took over the reins back home, winning bobsleigh championships in his spare time, and continued to do so until the age of 77. Manhattan had such an impact on him that he expanded the company’s design team to include fashion – and actively sought out Parisian tailors. The brand began to grow like mushrooms, with German, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, British and French subsidiaries established in the 1960s, which are still in operation today.
V. Christian Fischbacher, who spent his first twenty years in America and graduated from the renowned Princeton University, took over the CEO position from his father in 1983, having previously managed the company's fashion accessories division. He inherited not only his business acumen (he himself was more open to home furnishings, so by the end of the decade they had become the world's leading manufacturer of luxury bedding) but also his love of sports from his father. In 1972, he himself became world champion in skydiving as part of the Swiss team, and founded his still prestigious skydiving school in Locarno, Switzerland. In the 1980s, they collaborated with several renowned designers (e.g. Gianni Versace), which resulted in a prestigious award in 1984: the British Design Council awarded him the Prince Philip Design Award. (In addition to their numerous design awards, the 2013 and 2020 Red Dot Design Awards are perhaps worth mentioning.)
The company's sixth generation is now represented by two managers: VI. Christan Fischbacher is responsible for the Eastern European markets, while Michael Fischbacher has been managing the company since 2008. Before joining the company in 1997, he worked as a sinologist in Malaysia and China. While studying at Oxford, he met his wife, the American-Iranian Camilla, who has been in charge of product design as creative director since 2008. In 2019, the company celebrated the fact that after 200 years of existence, the founding family is still in control.
