Wolfgang Ley was a young, dynamic, ambitious entrepreneur who loved to improvise. In 1976 while skiing in St. Moritz he met and fell in love with a beautiful Swedish woman named Margaretha Ley who was a top model for the firm Jacques Fath. Margaretha not only modeled the new collections, she took the time to think and learn about the fashion world.

The couple took up together and during a trip in Portugal they placed a bet on a horse named Escada, meaning “staircase” in Portuguese. ESCADA came in and they gambled their winnings to set up a new business in the world of high fashion.

It was easy to divide up the work. Margaretha was in charge of the creative part while Wolfgang took care of everything else, the finances, sales, marketing and production.
The company quickly became a major success and ESCADA shares were listed on the stock exchange in 1986.

What were the reasons? Why was ESCADA different from its competitors? Four words provide the answer: elegance, color, quality and fit.

For years people have wondered whether there is some magic or unexplained abbreviation behind the name ESCADA. The truth is much more interesting: ESCADA was the name of an Irish thoroughbred. As simple as that.

Their highlight era came to an end in 1956 with the death of Margaretha Ley at age 56. The company went through some rough times after her death, but the various crises were overcome and ESCADA became successful and rose to the top of the fashion world once again where it has grown from a fashion label to a luxury goods brand.