The Formesse story
A very warm welcome to you all!
My name is Matthias Jaschke and I’m Managing Director of Formesse. It was my grandparents who first founded Formesse over 70 years ago.
Transparent and sustainable production conditions have become an important purchase criterion for increasing numbers of customers. I would like to show you how we produce our products and what’s so important to me about their production. Why we are all so proud of the products we sell. I very much hope you will sense something of that positive feeling when you use our products.
Your Matthias Jaschke
From work clothing to fitted sheets
At home in the Black Forest for over 75 years. And that’s not set to change.
It all began with work clothing. When my great-grandfather laid the foundation stone for our family business in Germany’s Black Forest, these were the first products he made. In 1947, his daughter, my grandmother, founded today’s company Formesse with her husband, producing bed linen and other trousseau textiles.
Fitted sheets become popular
My father took over the family business from my grandparents in the 1970s. Up until then, we had focused mainly on bed sheets made from woven fabrics and 100% cotton fitted sheets that really weren’t a perfect fit. My father was the one to introduce and develop stretchy fitted sheets as we know them today.
Formesse was amongst the first to develop fitted sheets with elastane, making a significant contribution to today’s market.
Entrepreneurial spirit and good luck
The Benelux countries are the pioneers of sleep culture. These countries have prized high-quality sleep products for a long time. In the mid 1980s, a Dutch friend and business partner encouraged my father to develop the perfect elasticated fitted sheet. In those days, waterbeds had just entered the market and were already much more widespread in the Benelux countries than in Germany. Our Dutch business partner was looking for a solution for these rather more complicated, mobile and thicker mattresses. The answer was Bella Donna Jersey.
The Benelux countries remain a key market for us today.
Bella Donna – the brand with the beautiful woman
Our Bella Donna brand has become somewhat of a household name and some may still recall the mysterious beauty, who once graced the front of our packaging. The same motif can still be found on the back of our packaging today. Although this beautiful woman looks as if she comes from the 1920s, she in fact dates back to the early 1990s.
But as we all know: true beauty is timeless.
As is quality.
Synonymous with premium quality
By the late 1990s, our specialist knowledge of high-quality elastane fitted sheets transformed Formesse into textile specialists. The world of waterbeds was now open to us. Because not many fitted sheets can stand up to the challenge of a moving mattress, yet still provide a wrinkle-free surface.
High-tech beds – the next challenge
The trend for boxspring beds and innovative bed systems with adjustable head and/or foot sections was the next challenge we were more than happy to tackle. Now we are proud to say: We have exceptionally good fitted sheets for all types of beds and mattresses.
The Formesse name stands for high-quality, long-lasting fitted sheets that fit your mattress perfectly without a wrinkle – even the next morning.
We now offer more than fitted sheets
Although the core focus of our company remains on the production of fitted sheets, we also have to mention our wonderful pillowcases, useful protective covers and stunning summer blankets. All of these products have been added step by step to our range and we sell them with complete conviction. Because when it comes to quality and function, they’re certainly on a par with our fitted sheets.
….and so the story continues.
Our values and philosophy
The priorities of a family business
We are a third-generation family business. Which means we set rather different priorities and goals to many other companies.
Many of our employees and partners have worked with us for years, some even for decades. Their experience makes an irreplaceable contribution to the success of our company. We have flat hierarchies and treat each other with respect and well-earned trust. This form of togetherness and keeping an eye on generations to come are very important for us to continue forging a healthy and sustainable path in future.
Quality from conviction
The values of the Black Forest are deeply engrained in our company culture: an appreciation of quality, care for the environment and fair dealings with our employees, our customers and our suppliers.
Innovative technologies and efficient production and sales structures are deeply embedded in this set of values. Almost our entire production is located in Germany and in the neighbouring region of Alsace. And recently, a family business in Poland has become one of our trusted partners. This close proximity to one another, both culturally and geographically, and our trusted partnerships are what enable us to manufacture such high-quality products.
Our products mirror our company philosophy in their exceptionally high, long-lasting and immediately tangible quality.
Made in Germany
As a fully developed industrial country, Germany sets exacting social, industrial health and safety, and environmental standards, to name but a few. Many textile companies outsource their production to less developed countries to save money. However, we believe these standards to be an important achievement. They drive us to better management and greater efficiency using the latest technologies. We can’t compete with low-cost manufacturers – that much is clear. However that is not our intention.