Friedrich Willy Teutloff

Friedrich Willy Teutloff (born April 3, 1903 ; † May 15, 1992 ) was a Berlin fashion entrepreneur and founder of the Bräuning & Co. fashion company. He founded and ran the Bräuning & Co fashion company from 1932 to 1970.

Career

He was born in Berlin-Moabit in 1903 and grew up in simple circumstances with his mother Emma and older sister Illa. Since the age of six he has been helping to support the family. Wilhelm delivered u. a. Laundry with handcart and roller skates and appeared regularly for over ten years as a small actor at the Royal Theater . After a short detour via agriculture, he found a job in clothing through contacts.

Fashion company Bräuning & Co

Company foundation in Berlin

In 1932, Wilhelm Teutloff started his own business in women's clothing with a loan of 20,000 Reichsmarks. He founded the company Bräuning & Co, named after his first great love, Lina Bräuning. The first company headquarters was Kronenstrasse 33, close to Hausvogteiplatz , the former Berlin clothing center. In the early years, sister and friends helped, including cabaret artist Werner Finck. Coats and costumes made of gabardine were produced in seven colors up to size 48. In 1935 he married Emma Lohmeyer. The son Lutz was born three years later (* April 27, 1938, † August 14, 2017).

The company during the war

During the Second World War, Bräuning & Co manufactured costumes and coats for staff assistants in the Wehrmacht. With the political and economic collapse at the end of the war, the entire company assets in Kronenstrasse were confiscated by the Soviet military administration . This also included the warehouses in Stargard and Liegnitz , as well as all goods that were transported from Thuringia, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Lusatia at that time.

Residential house and production rooms at Bräuning & Co, 1950s

New establishment in Hamburg

Despite the great losses, Bräuning & Co was re-established in 1946, with headquarters in Hamburg . Due to the lack of raw materials in the post-war years, rags were initially recycled and further processed in the production facilities in Hamburg / Wentorf. In the period that followed, there were significant private changes. In 1948 he married his second wife Irene Lingnau, their daughter Gabriele was born in 1950. Irene Teutloff was initially a general partner and worked in various functions in the company until 1959, including as a mannequin.

The Igedo in Düsseldorf

The success of a collection decided each year in spring and autumn on the so-called "transit" and at the fashion fair Igedo ( I NTERESTS GE Community D amen O berbekleidung) in Dusseldorf. Bräuning & Co was one of the 24 companies that founded Igedo in 1949. Due to the then isolated location of West Berlin, it was supposed to tie in with the great tradition of Hausvogteiplatz in Berlin.

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  Fashion drawing: Model Kampen, 1960s

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  Fashion drawing: Verona model, 1960s

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  Flyer: Bräuning & Co, 1950s

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  Fashion drawing: Model Karin, 1960s

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  Fashion drawing: Model Mary, 1960s

Relocation to Berlin

In 1951, contrary to the political trend, but entrepreneurially successful, Wilhelm Teutloff relocated the company's headquarters to Berlin - first to Wittelsbacherstrasse and then to Kurfürstendamm . Bräuning & Co continued to design women's outerwear, especially coats and costumes that didn't stop at size 42 - everything with a fashionable chic and yet inexpensive. In the 1960s, 47 employees and around 40 interim master craftsmen worked for the company. 75% of the production came from intermediate master craftsmen and 25% from our own workshops in Schöneberg and Neukölln . As the competitive pressure increased in the clothing industry, production locations were increasingly relocated to low-wage countries . 1970 Wilhelm Teutloff withdrew from active business life and dissolved the company.

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  Photo: Model with coat / Persian collar, 1960s

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  Bräuning & Co company logo, "Chicke Dicke" advertising campaign, 1950s-1960s

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  Photo: model with coat, 1960s

r. Irene Teutloff, l. Lutz Teutloff, fitting, 1950s

Fashion by Lutz Teutloff

In 1961, at the age of 22, his son Lutz joined his father's company, Bräuning & Co, after training as a textile merchant. Together with his wife Gisela, Lutz Teutloff started his own business in 1969 with the company "Teen 17" - fashion for young girls. In 1975/76 he made a radical change in his company. He started a new start in Bielefeld with his new business and life partner Hannelore Moeck and had high-quality, exclusive fashion made for the discerning specialist trade. With the motto “LOOK FOR THE BEST” there were now six new collections a year. The company grew to over 100 employees in the late 1980s. In 1989 Lutz Teutloff sold the company in order to dedicate himself to a new task as a collector and gallery owner.

items

• Berlin-Brandenburgisches Wirtschaftsarchiv eV: Bräuning & Co., IHK member files K 1/1/24835.
• Bräuning & Co. In: The Berlin economy 12/1962.
• Lutz Teutloff from “Teen 17” on sophisticated fashion. In: Textile Industry October 9, 1986.
• Rath, Tione: German designer Lutz Teutloff / Hannelore Moeck: We're someone again. In: Die Welt 22. 9.1980.
• Ruch, Christamaria: clothes off the rack and exclusive one-offs. In: MAZ 3.11.2014.
• Wilhelm / Lutz Teutloff. In: Verband der Berliner Bekleidungsindustrie eV (Hrsg.): DOB Mode in Germany 1945 to today Berlin / Cologne 1982.

exhibition

• FASHION THAT DRIVES. An exhibition in the Meyenburg Castle Fashion Museum from November 1, 2014 to January 30, 2015.