The BP brand

Johann Baptist Bierbaum opened his linen business in Cologne. His son-in-law, Franz Arnold Proenen, had independently worked his way up from minor journeyman to cotton trader with his own dyeing and printing shop. The two men laid the foundation for today's business when they combined both businesses to become "Bierbaum-Proenen".

The brand name "BP" was derived from the company name Bierbaum-Proenen. It became established as being synonymous with high quality products. It also inadvertently became the name of the pure white pantaloons that ladies wore under their petticoats. As it was unseemly to speak the name of the pantaloons, they were simply named after the manufacturer: "BPs".

The practical, attractive and tough clothing became the new business area for the BP brand. Customers quickly recognised how well this clothing was able to withstand the rigours of everyday working life.

BP became a large mass producer of work clothing. New possibilities in the field of industrial engineering and company organisation enabled a completely new level of perfection that brought together the basic principles of high quality and profitability in a hitherto unknown form.

Using modern marketing tools, BP adopted a new logo and a new claim. The company aimed to become the quality leader and to establish the BP logo as a quality symbol. A short time later, BP discovered radio advertising, a medium that was then still in its infancy.

The latest fashions and elegant exhibitions in Paris inspired BP to add fashionable details to women's work clothing for the medical sector - an absolute sensation! The success of this pioneering move was so great that new between-season collections were created at shorter and shorter intervals. BP MEDIZIN became synonymous with fashionable work wear.

The BP quality promise was taken further. In addition to materials and fabrics, the fit also had to meet the highest standards. And as this was work wear, the same fit had to be guaranteed for a certain style over the years so that it was not necessary to try the clothing on again when buying replacements. BP now also stood for a perfect fit.

To mark BP's 200th anniversary, designer Caren Pfleger created a collection that was a vision of how the world of work clothing would look in 25 years' time. This vision of the future was so well received that it influenced its present and helped to shape collections of the time. BP thus consolidated its market position as fashionable supplier of work clothing.

With the new claim, "feel the difference", BP redefined the brand. It applied the world of the emotions and the importance of experience to the world of work clothing.