DESIGNER UNKNOWN MARQUE PKZ. 24x39 inches. Condition A-: minor creases and discoloration in margins; lacquered. PKZ is a men's clothing store founded in Zurich by Paul Kehl, in 1881 (the name stands for Paul Kehl Zurich). When Kehl died in 1910, Karl Burger bought the company and it has remained in that family ever since. After 120 years it is still one of the most important and dynamic clothiers in Switzerland, with branches all over the country. Much of its renown and longevity can be attributed to their almost century long dedication to creative poster advertising.They commissioned their first poster in 1908 from Ludwig Hohlwein, and continued commissioning the best artists, so that now, listing them would be like compiling a who's who of great Swiss graphic designers. The company switched to photographic advertising in 1961, and by 1963 the "golden era" of PKZ advertising had come to an end. The saga of PKZ posters is also a brilliant example of the complicity between a client and a printer, in this case Wolfensberger. Johann Edwin Wolfensberger (1873-1941), the "old man," ran the eponymously named printing house and was responsible for the brilliant printing of all the PKZ posters. This early rendition of the PKZ logo represents heavy German influence and is an impeccable example of typography. This design was in use as the label for the company's clothes and must predate 1908, as Hohlwein used it in his poster from that same year. The clever insertion of the word "marque" above the reduced "K," the black background, and the frame with the two lines of dots, representing double stitching, are all well balanced and highly legible. These labels were used until 1923.
