AMBROSIUS KLAVENESS
Born on December 3rd, 1887, Ambrosius grew up in modest circumstances with his mother. He showed early talent as a craftsman and studied at the State School of Arts and Crafts in Oslo, where he was later offered a teaching position.
DAGFINN KLAVENESS
Dagfinn, Ambrosius’s son, developed an early interest in crafts and shoemaking. After primary school, he trained in shoemaking at Peter Andersen in Oslo, a supplier to the Norwegian royal family, becoming a part-owner at 27.
He later got a job offer from Bergen Skofabrikk as a production manager, so he moved to Bergen with his family. The testimonies show that he was an excellent manager and shoe technician at a 300-employee company. However, the stormy weather in Bergen was challenging for his wife and two children, so they decided to move back to Oslo.
In 1957, he founded Klaveness Skofabrikk in Sandefjord.
At the time, about 150 Norwegian shoe factories existed, but many were struggling against low-cost competitors. One major Norwegian newspaper, "Aftenposten", under the heading "There Are Still Optimists", described Dagfinn Klaveness as a man who wouldn't give up. When Dagfinn passed away in 1981, only five factories remained.
In 1968, Klaveness Skofabrikk started exporting to Sweden.
BJØRN KLAVENESS
In 1984, Bjørn Klaveness inherited the company. At that time, there were only five shoe factories in Norway, compared with approximately 150 factories at the end of the 50s when Klaveness was established. Due to the high cost in Norway, factories were forced to shut down or outsource production to other countries. In the 1980s, Bjørn and his family moved to Portugal to establish a new production unit. In the 1990s, he helped establish a new production unit in Poland.
Bjørn is a mechanical engineer with a master's degree in Design. He has actively contributed to developing and implementing new product ranges and concepts, such as FIA, OIL, and OAS, within Klaveness Footwear.
Bjørn is constantly seeking new solutions to benefit consumers. Today, he continues as R&D Manager and a member of the Board.
NEXT GENERATION
Kristian Klaveness, Bjørn's son, has a master's degree in design and a bachelor's in marketing.
He is the current CEO of Klaveness Footwear.
Klaveness Footwear now has 239 employees in four companies, serving an international market.
A big part of the production is pair-by-pair, made-to-order footwear.
Klaveness is a Scandinavian footwear brand that targets specific needs with unique solutions.