HISTORY

In the 1800’s Dominik’s great-great-grandfather was the first to connect his factory to the Munich power grid, and switch to electrical power and light. Automated production created products which became leading worldwide. A new market was created.

In the early 1900’s Dominik’s great grandfather invented horsehair interlinings, which quickly replaced thick felt interlinings. This completely changed the men’s tailored clothing industry. Again, a new market was created.

In the 1930’s Dominik’s grandfather invented twisted horsehair interlinings. In the years thereafter, the single drawn horsehair products were fully replaced on the world market. Again, a new product had created a new market.

In the 1960’s Dominik’s father and uncle invented fusible interlinings. In a bold and crazy move a large machine – that was to become known as a fusing press – was installed in the ballroom of a luxury hotel in Munich – and the invention was announced. In the years that followed, such fusing presses were installed in clothing factories all over the world, and non-fusible interlinings completely disappeared. Once again, a new product has changed an industry.

In the 1970’s they invented the double-dot coating technology, to radically reduce fusing problems. Thirty years later – after our patents expired – also this was copied all over the world and is today still an industry standard.

In the 1990’s, Dominik invented elastic fusible interlinings, which fully adapted to the behaviour of outer fabrics. A new level of softness and safety was now possible, which revolutionized the fashion industry worldwide. All remaining fusing problems disappeared, and fashion could become softer than ever before. Today, it is hard to find any non-elastic interlinings anywhere in the world. Again, there was a new market.

In going door-to-door for the better part of 15 years, Dominik presented many such game changing inventions to clothing companies all over the world. He could see the initial hesitance and the slow transition that followed. He learned that product developments are almost always challenged with initial resistance.

But in this time, he also learned that when a new product makes enough sense, it will eventually make its way into the market – and when that happens, the market can eventually change permanently. So, we now look back and recognize that Dominik’s father was right. If the development is good enough, even small to medium sized businesses can “create their own markets”.

In 2009 the Kufner company was sold. Dominik felt that there was little left to develop in the field of interlinings and decided to leave the company. He started a new business, together with his partner, Sofia Cinel Kufner. They created the Kufner-Cinel company, which we then renamed to KC. The mission of the company was to innovate in the fashion industry, but this time the developments were unbound by the limitations of what their own factories could produce.

They spent the next several years developing new wearable technologies, and the components needed to make them possible. In 2016 they created an office in Shenzhen, where most of the developments were then realized in bulk production. As of 2017 they have been supplying the clothing industry with the first innovations.

Today, KC has developed a wide range of smart textile technologies used in the fashion, workwear, law enforcement, and defense sectors—pushing the boundaries of what garments and accessories can do.

Jackets can heat or cool the body on demand, while Silverguard pockets protect credit cards from unauthorized scanning. Odour-absorbing inlays keep garments fresh, and hats or helmets can feature integrated wireless audio systems. Buttons and labels with NFC chips trigger smartphone functions, and accessories like handbags, wallets, and notebook covers can wirelessly recharge devices. With each innovation, textiles are becoming smarter, more interactive, and more useful in everyday life.