1930

Notting Hill, two brothers, a workshop

It all began on Portobello Road, London , one winter morning in 1930. George and Joseph Pike , two brothers and tailors, opened a bespoke menswear shop in the heart of Notting Hill. The idea: to combine the cuts of then-triumphant American menswear with the finest European fabrics — Highland wools, Italian linens, Lancashire cotton twills.

Very quickly, the workshop shifted from bespoke tailoring for the bourgeoisie to workwear . The Industrial Revolution was still in full swing, and London's factory and railway workers were looking for trousers that could withstand coal and oil. The Pike brothers responded with strict, straight cuts, pleated, and very high-waisted, reminiscent of station foremen. A century later, this influence can still be seen in the 1923 Buccanoy trousers and their shirts with detachable mandarin collars.

"The Pikes didn't make work clothes. They made tools that people wore."

1936

The Chopper, and the golden age of denim

With the arrival of the first Harley-Davidsons on English soil, the Pike brothers understood what no one else had: you needed trousers that would stay up on a motorcycle. In 1936, they released their first Chopper Pant —a loose fit, high waist, and tapered legs designed to fit over an engineer's boot. Within six months, the Chopper became the trousers of choice for London couriers and Coventry mechanics.

A year later, the company added the 5-pocket style: the 1937 Roamer , the first selvedge jeans designed for the European silhouette. Slimmer than American Levi's, more structured, made of 11oz metallic denim — it remains the brand's absolute best-seller to this day.

1939–1945

War, uniforms, machines

When war broke out, the Pike brothers converted their workshop to military production. Thousands of American armed forces landed on British soil and needed uniforms. The Portobello Road workshop operated 16 hours a day, seven days a week. For five years, the Pikes supplied the Ministry of Defence with CPO Navy shirts, Tanker jackets for the US Marines, and Deck Jackets for sailors.

This period has most profoundly shaped the DNA of the current brand. All of the most iconic modern reissues originate from this era.

Each piece is sourced today from the same period fabrics: HBT olive, jungle cloth, cotton elephant skin, and sanforized merino wool. Woven on pre-1960 shuttle looms that produce one meter per minute, whereas modern machines produce ten. The process is expensive, but the quality of the result is exceptional.

1958

The 1958 Roamer, and the decline

In the aftermath of the war, the British textile industry rebuilt itself, but Pike Brothers had aged. George died in 1955, and Joseph continued alone, but the arrival of mass-market ready-to-wear—Marks & Spencer, C&A—would decimate the independent workshops. In 1958, in a final burst of energy, Joseph designed what would become the brand's iconic cut: the 1958 Roamer . Five pockets, mid-rise waist, slightly tapered leg. The perfect pair of jeans, every inch of which is still reproduced today.

But it's too late. In the early 60s, the Portobello Road workshop closed. The rolls of Japanese denim and the original patterns were stored in a trunk, sealed, forgotten.

For fifty years, all that remained of Pike Brothers was a hand-sewn inner label, sometimes found in the flea markets of Camden Town.

2010

The Resurrection — Germany, family workshop

Fifty-year leap. Fabian Jedlitschka and his wife Anna Schäfer run a small motorcycle clothing workshop in Germany. Like many European bikers, they lament one thing: in the German hot rod scene, people spend more on the motorcycles themselves than on the clothing that goes with them. Too many Chinese-made products, not enough authenticity.

While searching through an antique dealer's archives in 2010, Fabian stumbled upon a perfectly preserved jacket with an inside label: Pike Brothers, London, 1944. Triple-needle stitching, wool lining, solid copper rivets, elephant-skin denim. A jacket that had survived a war and sixty-six years intact.

Fabian dug deep, tracked down Joseph Pike's heirs, and negotiated the purchase of the brand and the original designers. No investment funds, no fundraising—just a couple, a cellar, and the desire to revive a legend. The first batch consisted of 80 pieces. Sold out in two weeks.

Today

A brand, a family, vintage machines

Fifteen years later, Pike Brothers remains a family business . Anna manages production, Fabian handles design, and his mother helps out at trade shows. All the fabrics are custom-made, woven on pre-modern machines that produce nothing else. The elephant-skin denim for the Roamer line: a single Japanese mill. The jungle cloth for the N-1 Deck line: three hundred meters a month, not one more.

The spirit remains that of Portobello Road: rejecting growth to preserve quality. Rejecting fake vintage marketing to reproduce only pieces that truly existed. Rejecting the mainstream to maintain reissues of iconic models season after season.

The iconic pieces of the new era

The Pike Brothers spirit

Why this brand still exists

If Pike Brothers has lasted for fifteen years, it is thanks to three principles that Fabian Jedlitschka repeats in every interview:

• Quality before volume. It's better to produce 200 impeccable jackets than 5,000 decent ones. Reissues are expensive because they're authentic.
• Authenticity before marketing. No invented pieces for storytelling purposes — each reference in the catalogue corresponds to a garment that actually existed between 1900 and 1969.
• Family before growth. Pike Brothers remains managed by Fabian, Anna, and their close associates. No funds, no licensing, no forced expansion.

These are the same principles that the Pike brothers had engraved above the door of their Portobello Road workshop. Ninety years apart, 1,200 km apart, on two continents, their spirit has not changed one bit.

Explore more!

To delve deeper into the Pike Brothers universe, we've written two other in-depth guides:

• How to choose the right Pike Brothers trousers — Roamer / Chopper / Buccanoy / Hauler / Jungle comparison, 11/13/15/21oz denim, body shape guide.
• The Pike Brothers style — how to structure the wardrobe, vintage codes, combining pieces.
• The Pike Brothers brand — Identity card, know-how, workshops.
• Pike Brothers 2026 Size Guide — cm/inch conversions, alterations, return advice.