Luis Trenker wine or bacon? Fortunately fashion!
Michi Klemera was a national handball player, triathlete, motorcycle enthusiast, and ladies’ man. He also always had a connection to the world of fashion—through his father’s company, which ran a shoe wholesale business in Bolzano, South Tyrol. But when Michi and his brother Hansjörg happened to meet the heirs of Luis Trenker at a notary’s office, he certainly did not have the vision of founding a fashion brand. They simply had the spontaneous idea to market the name Luis Trenker—incidentally against their father’s resistance, who was not a fan of Luis Trenker at all. For a simple reason: on his mountain tours, he—tanned, white-haired, and wearing a felt hat—was often mistaken by tourists for the original Luis Trenker. “Look, there’s Trenker Luis!” the tourists would shout, much to the displeasure of Klemera senior.
When their father was finally convinced and the brand rights actually passed into the brothers’ ownership, they were happy but initially didn’t know what to do with them. At first, they considered marketing South Tyrolean speck or wine under the Trenker name, later even a schnapps or a bus company. That they ultimately decided on the fashion world was probably because they had the most know-how in this area thanks to the family business. However, the young entrepreneurs did not take the leap into the fashion business without support. They brought on a competent partner: the Bavarian shoe and traditional costume manufacturer Meindl.
This long-standing entrepreneurial family had a close connection for many years, as Michi Klemera distributed their leather clothing in Italy. In 1995, the fashion brand “Luis Trenker” was born. The very unique character of this nostalgically inspired yet innovatively interpreted fashion quickly drew attention. Luis Trenker was both alpine and fashionable – not traditional costume, but still rooted in heritage, with a highly individual touch that defied all clichés. However, this was also something of a challenge: the brand didn’t fit into any conventional category. This led to the creation of the term “Alpine Lifestyle” – it expressed the blend of fashion-forward design with alpine tradition.
The evocative, atmospherically rich black-and-white photos created a successful, heroic brand presentation. Alpine-urban — this was already a key characteristic of the Bozen-based fashion label at the turn of the millennium. Although the brand weathered industry crises, received much critical acclaim, and won numerous awards at major fashion fairs, commercial success initially fell short of expectations. Consequently, Meindl and Hansjörg Klemera left the company after five years. Michi Klemera remained, unwilling to give up his dream of an alpine fashion brand whose neon sign would one day light up Times Square. Alone — with just an assistant — he put together a new collection in a very short time. Then the unbelievable happened: in just one season, the brand generated as much revenue as it had in the entire previous five years. From then on, success followed in rapid succession. Land Rover became a Luis Trenker partner and years later even launched its own “Range Rover Luis Trenker Edition,” which sold out within a few days.
More than just a name
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