Hear Villy H. Bertelsen and Morten Dilling Bertelsen share the honest story of our family business. It’s a story of everything from growth and life crises to dreams of exploring new paths.
They are father and son, owner and CEO in the third and fourth generation.
The music in the film is composed and played by Villy H. Bertelsen.
DILLING's story began in 1916 with a man, his wife, and their five children, as well as the sheep grazing on their land. The man’s name was Andreas Bertelsen, and he bought a hand-operated knitting machine to make wool underwear. He then went from door to door to sell the woollens to make a living.
He named the business A. Bertelsen Tricotagefabrik.
In the mid-1940s, Andreas’ son, Osvald H. Bertelsen, took over the company. Under Osvald's ownership, the love for another natural material blossomed, one that is still important to DILLING today: organic cotton.
Osvald had a big love for music and often had local musicians over on weekends. His passion for music inspired his saying: “We must also remember to live.”
The company was renamed Osvald H. Bertelsen Tricotagefabrik.
At 27 years old, Villy H. Bertelsen took over the company from his father, Osvald, in 1968. Villy wanted to produce men’s underwear, as the company only made women's underwear at the time.
Villy’s talent as a pianist was remarkable from a young age, so his father hoped he might pursue a career at the music conservatory. Despite never discussing it directly, Villy took over the company within just a month. He ended up leading it for 48 years, whilst continuing to play piano.
Anky was the name of the company at this time.
In 2016, Morten Dilling Bertelsen formally took over the family business from his father, Villy. Morten knew it inside out but was also eager to explore new paths – while respecting the company's history and heritage.
Morten had one particular dream which he realised: to sell the clothes exclusively through DILLING's own websites – cutting out middlemen to offer fair prices directly to customers.
In 2020, the company was renamed DILLING, a surname Morten inherited from his paternal grandmother's German ancestors.
Today, the company is still called DILLING.
When you sign up to our newsletter,
you also get news and inspiration directly into your inbox.
Please accept marketing cookies to subscribe to our newsletter
Change your preferences
DILLING is a Danish family enterprise with a long tradition of producing organic wool products that will keep you warm. Today, we make organic clothing in organic merino wool and cotton for the whole family with the fourth generation, Morten Dilling, at the helm. Our organic wool wear sells at favourable prices because you are buying directly from the manufacturer.
You’ll find soft, breathable, and allergy-friendly clothing in natural materials on our website, produced without harmful chemicals and within Europe's borders under good working conditions.
Most of our products are certified with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and gently dyed at DILLING's own dyehouse in Denmark.
You'll find DILLING's products in the following countries: dk.dilling.com, dilling.de, dilling.se, dilling.nl, dilling.fi, dilling.fr, no.dilling.com, dilling.ch, us.dilling.com.