In the second part of the history of Tiger of Sweden, we pick up where we left the last time; with the death of Marcus Schwartzman. His son Robert Schwartzman had been running the company for a couple of years after his father’s death. This was the start of a dark time in the company’s history.

In the beginning of the sixties the competition started to get tougher.  Companies from countries like Finland and Portugal were able to compete with lower prices.
This was the start of the major textile crisis in Sweden. Six years after the death of his father, Robert perished himself. Late at night, on the way home from a client meeting, he experienced a car accident that would take his life.

The tragic event caused concern for the future of Tiger, and was start of the turbulent time that lay ahead. In 1968 the textile crises climaxed. During the crisis 70 000 people lost their jobs in Swedish textile industry. But that was not the only thing that contributed to the decline. The 68-generation didn’t wear suits. As a part of the liberation from their parent’s generation, jeans, t-shirts and clogs became a fashion statement.

In order to save jobs, the Swedish government started buying up the textile companies. In the mid sixties the government bought Tiger. The same thing happened to Tiger’s main competitor at the time, Oscar Jacobsson. In order to keep them from competing with each other, each company got a different objective. Tiger had to focus on export (only allowed to sell to a couple of stores in Sweden). Oscar Jacobsson on the other hand had to focus on the Swedish market alone.  During the seventies Tiger was therefore forbidden to market itself in Sweden.

Instead Tiger became a prestigious supplier of suits in the UK (for instance to Marks and Spencer) and in America. A office was set up in the Empire State Building in New York. Tiger got a reputation for quality garments. One in particular. Tiger manufactured a model in gabardine from the renowned producer Bleiche in Switzerland. Gabardine was an extremely difficult material to make suits in. And few had the ability. Tiger therefore sold 70 000 gabardine suits a year on the US market alone.

At the end of the seventies the public demand for gabardine declined, and sales went down. In 1987 the New York office was finally closed.

In 1983 the CEO and Head of production at the time bought the company from the government. They started market the brand once again and lay the foundation of what was about to happen later on.

In the eighties the suit was once again latest fashion. The Yuppie era had begun. Quality was now on demand and Tiger got once again a boost. In 1989 a government company once again bought Tiger. A series of bankruptcies followed. But in the fall of 1992 a young group of people at Tiger had a vision. With a new mantra they developed a new collection that would be show cased the following spring. It turned out to be the start of the Tiger we know today…

In the third and final chapter we get to follow what led to the success story Tiger is today.

The manufacturing of ready-to-wear suits in the beginning of the last century was extremely rare, if not to say revolutionary. It was an idea that would become a key factor in the success story I am now am about to tell. This is the first part in the history of Tiger of Sweden.

The history of Tiger begins in 1903 when Marcus Schwartzman and Hjalmar Nordström founded the company in Uddevalla ( a rather small town on the Swedish westcoast) that would later become known as Tiger. The company was first named Schwartzman & Nordström, who specialised in making top quality tailored suits.

At the time gentlemen went to a tailor when buying a new suit, often visiting the tailor several times while the suit took shape. Schwartzman decided to do the opposite.

At first he travelled around the country, taking the measurements of his customers in their homes. Nordström his partner, who was more reserved oversaw the production at the small factory back in Uddevalla.

In 1905 Nordström left the company due to a conflict of interest between him and Schwartzman of how the company should evolve. Schwartzman wanted to start making ready-to-wear garments, and that’s what happened.

The idea of making ready-to-wear suits was brand new, and was an immediate success. The public demand was enormous and
lead to a rapid growth of the company. After having production
in a series of small venues,the construction of a large-scale factory
began in 1928. In 1929 thefactory opened and staffed
a 1000 people.

How Tiger got its name

There are quite a few stories of how Tiger got its name.
The truth actually lies in a series of well liked suits.

At first Schwartzman & Nordström had given their suit models different numbers. Later on they decided to give them names instead. In 1926 the model Tiger 1 saw the light, followed by Tiger 2 and Tiger 3. The model Tiger was extremely popular from the start. It led to a massive success  to the point where the workers at the factory put a big Tiger sign up on the roof. From this day on people started calling the company Tiger.

The building of a new factory

After the opening of the factory in 1929 Schwartzman soon realized that it wasn’t enough.

The plans for a new factory began. When it opened in 1949 it was marked by Schwartzman’s utmost consideration for his staff, being one of
the most modern factories in the whole of Europe.

In the spring of 1939 Schartzman purchased the lot where the factory later was to be built. When the Second World War broke out later that year, the plans had to be put on a hold. Tiger had to reorganize and started producing garments for the Swedish Armed Forces instead.

When the war ended in 1945, the construction of the new factory began. In 1949 the factory was finally ready.

For a long time Schwartzman had prioritised the well-being of his staff. For instance he had purchased a recreation home, started a day nursery, built homes, introduced 17 days of vacation and Christmas bonus for all employees. The new factory was marked by the
same amount of consideration.

It had air conditioning, a speaker system with music shows, a staff diningroom, an electrically heated sauna and swimming pool. It might sound something that you would take for granted today, but back in 1949 it truly wasn’t.

In 1955 Marcus Schwartzman died at the age of 77. This was the beginning of turbulent time in the company’s history…
The following chapters describe the companies history from the 50´s until today with the significant rebirth of the brand in the early 1990´s.