Our Story

The history of C.L. Seifert is a story of love, passion, family and hard work. When Carl Ludvig (1834-1898), a newly examined 22 year old tailor, came to Copenhagen in 1856 from Mühlau in Sachsen, his plans was first to go to America. But when he met his future wife Mina Seifert (born Thee) (1834-1913), they started a family and a business together in Copenhagen. 

Carl Ludvig first started to work as an apprentice tailor for seven years around the Copenhagen area, but together with Mina they started their first business in a basement at Store Regnegade in the heart of Copenhagen in 1865. After a long time of hard work, day and night, they finally earned enough money to buy a sewing machine. A machine that wasn’t very common among tailors at the time. Carl and Mina learned that buttons and exclusive fabrics like silk could be bought at a lower price in Germany, so Mina set off to Germany and they began importing these products. They also started to supply and distribute these materials to other tailors in Denmark. They grew bigger and bigger and finally moved from the basement and opened their own store and workshop at Store Regnegade 22. Later they would move the business to Store Regnegade 10-16. 

They got four kids together, all very creative and driven as their parents. The daughter Johanna (1855-1935), Eduard (1865-1925) who started a business in 1892 called Hans Bach, Carl (1860-1935) who became a very important and well known smith and Rudolph (1857-1929) that joined the C.L. Seifert business and became a part owner. 

When Carl Ludvig passed away in 1898, Rudolph solely ran the whole business. He made the company a limited company and developed the gold embroidery departement. He became an expert in sables and swords and became a supplier to the Danish Royal Court in 1903 and the Swedish Royal Court in 1911. But the main business was still to provide, high quality fabrics and materials to other tailors in Copenhagen. At this time around 100 people was working at the office and workshop at Store Regnegade. After Rudolphs passing his wife Julie Seifert Sorensen took over.

In 1935, Christian Birch, who was director of the company at the time, along with his family, took over the business in 1935. They ran the business with a steady hand through two world wars and developed the uniforms, headwear and insignias even further.

Anders Eriksen and Jens Eriksen, two cousins, bought the company in 2004 and started their own factories in 2006. They expanded the business and moved the workshop to larger premises at Ny Adelgade 8-10 in 2010.

In 2012 the C.L. Seifert merged with Atelier 2000.

Today, 150 years after Carl Ludvig started the company, C.L. Seifert is still the main provider of uniforms and headwear in Scandinavia.