Steiff Luxurious Materials

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Steiff Classic Bear

Steiff Luxurious Materials

Those wanting to create something special and unique of lasting value will need nothing less than the perfect ‘ingredients‘. This not only applies to many other areas, but especially to the Steiff manufacture. They only use ‘ingredients‘ of the highest quality. For every Steiff animal, from head to paw. Starting with the thread, the filling material, buttons, eyes and accessories. Right up to what is so characteristic for every Steiff animal: it’s ‘coat‘ or ‘fur‘. This gives character and form to its appearance. So since 2009 Steiff have been particularly happy to be able to call themselves the world’s only manufacturer of children´s toys with its own fabric factory.

Through the fusion with their long-term supplier Schulte, the entire material and fabric production process is now in the hands of Margarete Steiff GmbH. From the very first design idea to fabric manufacture. Sewing and garnishing, as well as perfecting every Steiff animal in their factories. At Steiff Schulte in Duisburg, they create luxurious fabrics from threads of noble materials such as alpaca, mohair and silk. These in turn are the valuable ‘ingredients‘ for the company’s unique creations. If you are wanting to create something extraordinary, you can only be satisfied with the very best. That’s what we think – don’t you?

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Original Schulte Mohair Steiff Luxurious Materials - Schulte Seal

The wonderful story of the Teddy Bear started at the beginning of 1900.
Everyone knows that Richard Steiff was the creator of the Teddy Bear.
But what would Teddies have looked liked if he had not found the right material for their fur?

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Paul Steiff (left) and Reinhard Schulte, 1908 Fortunately, Schulte in Duisburg was already in existence! In 1901 Reinhard Schulte had opened his own factory, weaving plush fabrics. Today his company is known throughout the world as ‘the Mecca for bear making fabrics‘. The name Schulte, Duisburg, has become synonymous with high-quality Mohair fabrics. Since their early beginnings, Schulte and Steiff have remained in close commercial and private contact.

The Steiff Teddies which attract the highest prices at sales and auctions are almost exclusively made from the ‘Original Schulte Mohair‘. Steiff Teddies made from genuine Schulte Mohair are a Guarantee for highest Teddy Bear Culture!

Their long tradition, ‘know how‘ developed by generations, and the newest production processes, all make it possible for Schulte to create wonderful fabrics. Every Teddy Manufacturer, Designer and Artist – as well as collector – loves and adores the Steiff Luxurious Materials.

A fur fabric without comparison – world-wide.
Teddies made from the ‘Original Schulte Mohair’ are precious escorts into the future.
Faithful partners one can always rely upon.

Best materials
Millimetre by millimetre and thread for thread: simply the best.
Steiff Luxurious Materials

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Mohair – lustrous, shiny and sleek

ALPACA – Soft, silky, opulent

Although the number of alpaca animals in the Steiff range has increased in recent years, the company discovered the material many years ago. Its resurgence in popularity is due to its wonderful feel and tremendous versatility. Steiff uses Alpaca to create both soft Teddy bears and ultra-realistic animals.

Mohair – lustrous, shiny and sleek

This natural material from the wool of the angora goat is the classic Teddy bear material. In fact, Steiff chose angora for the first Teddy bear ever created. The fibre is both beautiful and durable. This accounts for the amazing number of vintage Steiff creations that appear today in superb condition. Most Teddy bears and animals in the current Classic range use mohair material.

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Steiff Plush - Fluffy, versatile, soft

Woven fur – cuddly, velvety, robust

Amazingly soft and natural-feeling, this beautiful fabric is quite valuable. Steiff create it through a unique three-dimensional weaving technique. This involves inserting threads into cotton backing perpendicularly. The result is especially suitable for huggable toys. This sumptuous fabric is also used in the Studio range of near life-size creatures.

Fluffy, versatile, soft

Plush Steiff animals are fluffy. They feel particularly soft and gentle. A special finishing technique gives Steiff’s knitted plush fabric a unique combination of soft feel and high durability. Plush is used for a multitude of applications. Its functionality makes it the ideal choice for the special demands of children’s sensitive skin.

SCHULTE MOHAIR

Schulte Mohair.
The Angora goat is one of nature`s finest sources for natural fibre. This special fur is very long and naturally wavy. Shearing, usually done twice per year, results in the fleece called Mohair. The term mohair derives from the Arabian word Muhayar. This literally means ‘the fabric of goat hair‘. Despite the name similarity, there is no relationship to the Angora rabbit.

Collecting this noble hair harms no animals!

Angora goats are a delicate animal, very sensitive to temperature change. This requires a dependable mild climate. Summers are not so hot that the meadows dry out, and winters not too cold. In the entire world there are only three regions that consistently meet these ideal conditions. They are Texas, USA, South Africa and Turkey.
The fur of the Angora goat is naturally white, curly and shiny. Its fibres have a remarkable strength when made into a pile fabric. These characteristics, together with the noble appearance, silky feel and sheen, make mohair one of the finest fibres offered by nature.

Since 1901 the Reinhard Schulte factory has produced teddy bear material of 100% pure mohair! The factory does the entire weaving, dyeing, distressing, curling, waving and processing. This controls the production process. It assures their customers of the highest quality fabric.

The best thing that can happen to your bear is a furcoat of
ORIGINAL-SCHULTE-MOHAIR.

“The fabric from which we make teddies.”
One hundred percent nature.

SCHULTE ALPACA

ALPACA: Inca Gold.
There are few things in this world that have retained their rarity and distinctiveness for centuries. Even during the realm of the Incas, rare and luxurious alpaca fleece was worth its weight in gold.

The Alpaca is most closely related to the Vicuña.
This is a rigorously protected species belonging to the same genus as the Llama.

Alpaca, rare animals found in half-domesticated herds, inhabit the valleys of the Andes, at altitudes of up to 4000 metres. Their lightweight and very robust coats protect them from the extreme temperature differences between day and night, that are so typical of their natural habitat.

Alpaca hair ranks among the finest and most exquisite fibres nature offers. This is because of its extraordinary qualities, characterised by its particular delicacy. Its fleece (shorn hair) is extremely long, lightly crimped and remarkably soft.

Collecting this noble hair harms no animals!

The South American Indians carefully shear their herds by hand every two years. They carefully sort the hair according to the colour tone and quality. They sell the fleece at the Peruvian seaport of Arequipa. This port is the centre for international trade of alpaca hair.

Only the finest raw fibres with unaltered natural colours qualify for the long journey to expert European spinners. It is from those specialists that Schulte obtain the alpaca yarn that they use to make their premium woven fur.
THE ORIGINAL SCHULTE ALPACA

Steiff organic cotton

Eco-quality of the highest level.
Steiff Luxurious Materials

Steiff Luxurious Materials - Steiff organic cotton - Bio-Baby Series

Steiff Bio-Baby series –
Made of pure organic cotton from controlled organic cultivation. Our organic cotton is woven in our own weaving mill, Steiff Schulte in Duisburg. We certify the cotton according to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). It complies with IVN guidelines (Internationaler Verbandder Naturtextilien [International Association of the Natural Textile Industry]). This allows us to achieve incomparable

product quality, which stands for all-round unspoilt nature. Ecological cultivation without pesticides. No application of optical brighteners. Also, colouring without allergenic components, as well as fair working conditions for all those involved.
Feeling, touching, smelling and tasting – that’s how our little ones discover their big world. These new Steiff friends, made of purely organic Steiff Luxurious Materials, join the ranks.

Company: Steiff Schulte Webmanufaktur GmbH
– Country Code: DE
Steiff Luxurious Materials - TÜV SÜD - ISO 9001 Certification
Scope: EA 04 Textiles and textile products —ISO 9001 / TMS / 1210041991
The ISO 9001 certification confirms that the Steiff Company complies with the highest standards of the QM system.

TÜV SÜD meets the diversity of marks and labels. It has its own certification mark, recognised worldwide. This is the blue octagon.

‘Quality management principles‘ are a set of fundamental beliefs, norms, rules and values accepted as true. Steiff uses them as a basis for quality management.

The seven quality management principles are…..
* Customer focus – QMP 1
* Leadership – QMP 2
* Engagement of people – QMP 3
* Process approach – QMP 4
* Improvement – QMP 5
* Evidence-based decision-making – QMP 6
* Relationship management – QMP 7

View our STEIFF information pages:

Steiff Luxurious Materials

Steiff Luxurious Materials

The wonderful story of the Teddy Bear started at the beginning of 1900.
Everyone knows that Richard Steiff was the creator of the Teddy Bear.
But what would Teddies have looked liked if he had not found the right material for their fur?