Founded in 1911 by Balthasar Merz in Germany's Swabian Mountains, a region known for garment production, Merz b. Schwanen made clothing there until the factory eventually closed. Years later, Peter Plotnicki came across the old factory and its vintage machinery after a trail that began with a flea market find. With the Merz family's blessing he revived the brand, and today it once again makes some of the finest cotton basics in the world on those original machines.