ESTD. 1901: The Swimwear Collection of the Year? We Think So!
It will be hanging in the wardrobes of select influencers and content creators around the world: deep Hansgrohe green, embroidered emblem, crafted from fine materials – and impossible to buy. No drop, no online store, not even by request. The bathrobe from Hansgrohe’s limited “ESTD. 1901” collection is one of the most exclusive textile pieces of the year. And that is entirely intentional.
Belle Époque Meets High-Tech Swimwear
To mark its 125th anniversary, we have done something no one expected: we created swimwear. The “ESTD. 1901” collection includes an iconic bathrobe in rich dark green, as well as a swimwear line for men and women. The designs take inspiration from the high-necked, elegant silhouettes of the turn of the 20th century, while translating them uncompromisingly into the present day. As if someone had taken an old family portrait from 1900 and run it through an Instagram filter from 2026.
Ben Bernschneider, a Bollenhut, and Black Forest Cherry Cake
Who brings it all to life? Ben Bernschneider. The Hamburg-based author and content creator is the face of the campaign – and few could have been a better fit. In the campaign film, shot at the luxury hotel The Fontenay in Hamburg, Bernschneider wears the bathrobe with his trademark dry humor. Around him: Black Forest cherry cake arranged as a still life, a traditional Bollenhut leaning in the hotel hallway, and a bottle of Rothaus Tannenzäpfle placed next to an AXOR showerhead. The Black Forest meets the Alster. Heritage meets the present.
Bernschneider himself was convinced from the very beginning: “What fascinates me is how a company keeps delivering innovation across multiple eras and generations without betraying its own heritage. If Hansgrohe had created a collection you could buy, it would have worked – but it would have turned into merch. And merch dies in the closet. These pieces have a reason to exist.”
125 Pieces. That’s It.
The swimwear items in the collection were produced exactly 125 times – in line with the anniversary year – and will be distributed exclusively to selected influencers and content creators. The bathrobes are gifts from Hansgrohe to customers and partners, from the Black Forest to Tokyo. Anyone wearing a piece from this collection becomes part of a story that began in 1901 in a small village in the Black Forest.
