History

Company founder Manfred Busch draws on decades of experience in the necktie industry.

In 1992 he launched b & l textile trading GmbH with a staff of just two in Krefeld, a tradtional center of the silk woven industry.

In a pioneering move b & l became one of the first companies from the industry to manufacture in Korea, China and Vietnam.

b & l also entered a partnership with a Japanese company in Kiryu.

This brought on board expert jacquard designers and technicians with a tradition of more than 100 years in Japan’s rich textile arts.

In 1997 the son of the founder, Thomas Busch joined the company and outsourced the back office to Thailand, Bangkok, and focused the entire production of fabric and neckties to China, leaving from Korea and Vietnam.

This enabled b & l to concentrate on sales and product development at their headquarters in Germany, reducing their cost overhead ane becoming a price and quality leader within the market of mass and mid range production.

In 2020 b & l faced its most difficult and challenging time amid the shocks of COVID pandemic and being forced to liquidate its operations in August of that year.

Through restructuring and relocating to Japan, Kyoto b & l managed to continue its business slowly rebuilding for what was lost.