Pioneer

Pioneer traces back to a cloth-trading company Adolf Ahlers founded in Jever, Germany, in 1919, which relocated to Oldenburg in 1925 and then to Herford in 1932, opening its first production facility in 1936. The company began making workwear under the Pionier name starting in 1942, formalized as Pionier Workwear from 1971. In 1970 Ahlers extended the label into denim with Pioneer Authentic Jeans, drawing on the workwear line's rugged construction and cut. A higher-priced Pionier Jeans & Casuals line followed in 1977. All three lines are still produced and distributed today by the Ahlers Group, a Herford-based clothing company that also holds the Pierre Cardin and Otto Kern licenses in Germany.