Production: “Atlantis” leather suit by BMW

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Cutting: Tibi Hrdliczka is a trained master tailor and assembles 48 pieces of leather for a pair of trousers. For an Atlantis suit he needs a complete skin (5.5-6 m²).

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Construction: Meindl employee and editing director Martina Ziegeleder (right) connects with BMW designer Annette Werner and BMW engineer Markus Mahn.

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Cutting sheets: Rita Winter takes care of tailor-made suits and ensures that the computer-controlled cutter made of adhesive paper cuts the cutting sheets for trousers.

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Skin selection: Production manager Helmut Hunger (left) with leather thickness measuring device and Meindl veteran Peter Maxlmoser (36 years old Meindl!). The leather thickness is 1.2-1.4 mm.

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Sewing: Marianne Brandstetter is working on a jacket. She needs around a week for a sample jacket (25 to 30 hours of sewing work).

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Puzzle: BMW press officer Beata Telingo with around 120 Atlantis pieces. The leather is joined by stretch fabric, reflective material, zippers and snaps.

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Taping: The seamstress Juliane Dendl needs around two hours per pair of trousers to weld all the seams watertight. There are around 40 meters of seams in a complete suit.

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Top priority: Senior boss Hannes Meindl and dog Paul (Bernese Mountain Dog Collie, father Dalmatian or something like that) at the Atlantis 4 final inspection.

clothing

Production: leather suit &# 34; Atlantis&# 34; from BMW

Report: BMW leather suit Atlantis
Production of the leather suit “Atlantis” in the Meindl company

If a product is still selling well in its fourth edition, there must be something in it. For example, a lot of know-how and the finest craftsmanship.

Klaus Herder

04/09/2013

Why the leather suit was named after a mythical island kingdom that perished as a result of a natural disaster can no longer be clearly explained today. On the other hand, it is fairly clear that Atlantis did not reappear in the distant past in the form of Heligoland, the Canary Islands or Crete, but in 1995 in the BMW driver equipment range. Atlantis has sold well over 50,000 times to date, making the not so cheap, but incredibly comfortable and, above all, absolutely waterproof leather two-piece suit one of the world’s most successful motorcycle clothing items.

The current Atlantis 4 has been around since 2008 and is expected to be around until 2015. This fourth edition is the first Atlantis that is waterproof even without a Gore-Tex inlet, and also the first model in the bestseller series, for the production of which the Meindl company based in Kirchanschoring in Upper Bavaria is responsible. Outdoor activists know Meindl as a well-known shoe manufacturer, but Meindl has also been a leader in traditional costumes and leather clothing for many years. MOTORRAD went to the 3500-strong community in Rupertiwinkel and was shown everything that goes with it, so that an Atlantis 4 is made from around 120 individual parts in around 130 production steps.

The whole thing starts with the beef. Not in any cloven-hoofed animal, but exclusively in bulls that have ruminated in southern Germany or Austria, because only their skin is elastic enough, thanks to the strong climatic fluctuations, to protect motorcyclists from wind and weather as an Atlantis base. Out of 100 hides only 20 make it into the shortlist Atlantis and for hydrophobing. This is a tanning treatment in which the leather fibers are enclosed, but the pores remain open – unlike with impregnation or greasing – and which makes the leather water-repellent. The leather is almost waterproof and still breathable.


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Proximity: Marianne Brandstetter is working on a jacket. She needs around a week for a sample jacket (25 to 30 hours of sewing work).

The tanning and waterproofing takes place in Germany, after which the hides go to Bosnia for assembly, where 35 employees ensure that a good 40 meters of seams are set per suit and then welded with waterproof tape. The Bosnia solution may sound strange to tough Made-in-Germany advocates, but it has already proven itself since the first Atlantis edition, is partly carried out on Meindl machines and under permanent Meindl control on site, and has a very simple reason: In this country, sewing 400 to 500 suits a month would simply be unaffordable.

However, some of the more than 200 Meindl employees in Kirchanschoring are still directly involved in day-to-day business with the Atlantis, because of course the story of such a bestseller does not stand still. The development of the successor model begins two to three years before the market launch. The prototypes and initial samples to be produced in the complete size set are all created in Kirchanschoring. These leather suits then end up for practical testing with the BMW test drivers and are not so rarely worn on Erlkonigen.


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The first Atlantis, still in the “Jogging suit cut”.

BMW takes care of quality management in Dingolfing. At Meindl, the BMW team is supported by a long-serving production manager, Helmut Hunger, who is an ideal choice. The trained tailor and clothing technician was involved in the legendary Atlantis predecessor Monaco in the early 1990s and knows the subject like no other. And he also knows about hardcore customers who up until now had to have every Atlantis. A leather suit as a collector’s item – this honor is certainly not bestowed on every little piece of leather.

history
It all began in 1993 with the Monaco, which was limited to 1500 pieces. The mouse-gray, smooth leather two-piece suit was the first waterproof leather suit in the world and cost a hefty 2695 marks, but was still sold out immediately. The first Atlantis started in 1995 in anthracite and with a slightly sanded surface (nubuck leather) for 2198 marks. It continued with the Atlantis 2 (1999), Atlantis 3 (2002), Atlantis 3 Pro (2004) and the current Atlantis 4 (since 2008). So far, over 50,000 pieces have been sold worldwide, around 80 percent of them in men’s sizes. 52 percent of production remained in Germany. The current Atlantis 4 is available in many sizes for women and men and costs 1490 euros (jacket 825 euros, pants 665 euros).

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