Norwegian textile history since 1927

Norlender Knitwear`s story goes back to 1927, when the founder, Ola Tveiten, bought his first knitting machine. Mr. Tveiten lived with his family on a mountain farm on the island Osterøy. With no road leading up to the farm, the big knitting machine was brought up on a horse sledge assisted by many helpful neighbours.

Ola Tveiten was a carpenter, and when the machine was installed in the basement of the farmhouse, he had to leave for work in Bergen. «You just have to make it work», he told his teenage sons, and left. Together with their mother, Anna Maria Tveiten, the sons made the machine work and started producing underwear for women under the name «Ola Tveiten Trikotasjefabrikk».

The business went well, and very soon they invested in a second knitting machine and industrial sewing machines. When the business grew, Ola Tveiten and his family started their own cotton underwear brand and called it «Svale», which is the name of the beautiful bird swallow in Norwegian.

Eventually the factory outgrew the small space in the basement and the family built the first factory building next to the old farmhouse.

The dark years during WWII and the occupation of Norway were times with very limited resources. It was hard to get yarn and what was available was a strange mix of cotton and other replacement fibers. Everything that was produced had to be shared very carefully between customers. The hard times during the German occupation of Norway did not stop Ola Tveiten and his family. And soon after the war, a new and bigger factory was built in the village of Hosanger by the beautiful Oster fjord.

The war ended and Europe and Norway eventually got back to normal. The business was good, people needed clothes and the prospects were bright. The new factory by the fjord became an important workplace in the village, and a very important workplace for women. At the most, the factory had around 50 employees, mostly women. Working in the new factory was popular, especially since the building was new, dry and had indoor bathrooms, which was not
a matter of course at the time.

Ola Tveiten had three sons, and two of them decided enter the textile bussiness like their father. The two youngest sons, Aasmund and Odd Tveiten both went abroad to study before they took over the factory. Aasmund took the boat over to England to learn economics, and Odd took the train over to Sweeden to study textile engineering.

Aasmund and Odd Tveiten took over the factory in the beginning of the 1950s. Not long after, in 1964, a new part of the factory building was finished, and the production capacities increased.

The product range grew, and the factory did not just produce cotton underwear. The factory modernised it’s machinery and started manufacturing baby clothes, night gowns, polo and sweatshirts. The Tveiten brothers had to constantly constantly evolve in line with the needs of the market. Slowly the yarn changed from cotton to wool, and the factory came closer to what it is today.

Times were changing and it was difficult to foresee the big changes which took place when the low price products from the far east swept into the Scandinavian market. At Svale Trikotasje they struggled to stay in business, and felt that it was time for some vital changes. In the winter of 1989, Odd’s four children and son in law, the third generation of the Tveiten family took over the company. They reinvested in new machinery which enabled a wider range of knitwear production and started producing wool cardigans and pullovers based on the Norwegian knitting heritage under a new label Norlender.

Today, almost a 100 years after the family bought their first knitting machine, the factory is operated by Ola Tveiten’s grand children and great grandchildren. Odd’s son in law, Alwyn Lewis is Norlender’s manager. And the sister’s Gyda and Astrid Tveiten, Odd’s daughters are running the production and design team at Norlender. Gyda is head of production and Astrid is the head designer. Astrid’s daughter, and the fourth generation of the Tveiten family, Stephanie Tveiten, is head of sales and marketing.

Norlender Knitwear is one of the few existing textile factories left in Norway, and we are very proud to be able to offer garments made from Norwegian wool used in yarns spun in Norway, and knitted and manufactured at our factory by the fjord in Hosanger.

Visit our factory and outlet

Norlender Knitwear is open for visitors. We welcome small and big groups for factory tours in our historical "Factory by the Fjords".
For questions or tour reservations please contact: sales@norlender.no or +4756192000.

The Factory Shop is open for visitors without reservations on:
Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4pm.