Historie

This chapter cannot be missed as STYL celebrated 50 years of existence and 100 years of button production in the village in 2000.

A view of the square in Studená in 1904 Greetings from Studená (Hynek Macoun Publishing; according to photos by Fr. Hrozek, Dačice, Hrad. Str. No. 7.)

1900 - the beginning of button production in Studená (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) using natural mother-of-pearl. Production was carried out at home on pedal machines, workbenches and drills. The workers used their feet to pedal the gear wheel and drilled button blanks from the shells they held in their hands. Since the clam heated up and there was a lot of dust, water dripped from the machine onto the drill bit and the workers’ hands to cool them. Buttons were called “čamrdy”, button-makers “čamrdáři”. The raw material was imported, for example, from the Red and Coral Seas, China, Japan, the Philippines, Fiji, later from Mississippi, etc., and was usually named after the port where it was loaded - e.g. Makassar, Manila, Tahiti, etc. Finished goods were exported mainly to the USA, Germany, England and Spain, with up to 60 wagons of raw material being processed in the region annually.

• 1921 - production resumes after World War I. We have some remarkable archaeological relics from this and later periods. Even today, during excavations, we sometimes find old shells with drilled holes - button blanks. A new material, Galalith, based on casein, was introduced around this time.
• The 1926 to 1947 global economic crisis and the intense competition, mainly from Japan, ended the production of buttons in Studená until 1947.  In the early 1930s, the workshop was adapted to textile production. After World War II, the button-making tradition rose from the ashes and has not been interrupted to the present day.
• 1947 - Mr Homolka, who had learned the craft before World War II, bought a house in the street in the direction of Horní Pole and, together with five women, began to produce buttons again, using Argolite, another casein-based material.

House in Tyršova Street (towards Horní Pole), in which František Homolka resumed the production of buttons in Studená in 1947

On 15 January 1950, a nationwide cooperative was founded, uniting all private button producers at that time and bearing the name STYL, výrobní družstvo knoflíkářů z. s. s. r. o. in Prague - Michle, Michelská 1. The headquarters of this cooperative was located in Prague, it had 11 branches with 73 members. In the framework of further reorganization, STYL was divided by regions, with 18 members already working in Studená at that time. The former Orlovna building was purchased, and it remains STYL's headquarters today.

The building of Orlovna in Studená, in which STYL still operates after extensive redevelopment

• On April 24, 1954 - the STYL cooperative was officially established, focusing exclusively on activities in Studená - the founding general meeting with the participation of 43 members elected Mr. Homolka as the head of the cooperative.
• 1957 - the reconstruction of Orlovna, production of buttons of artificial mother-of-pearl (plexiglass) began.
• 1958 - the former cannery in Nová Říše near Telč was purchased (five people were employed there). During the reconstruction of Orlovna, STYL also acquired part of the brewery building (a former refrigerator) and set up a workshop for polishing, button machining and dispatching of finished products. By this time, 120 members were already working in Studená, and production of manicure holders for DUP Pelhřimov started
• 1971 - comprehensive renovation of the brewery building into a two-store building (button finishing and polishing workshop, dispatch of finished products and factory kitchen).
• 1962 to 1972 - the workshop in Nová Říše was rebuilt and significantly expanded, including 4 flats for cooperative members.
• In the 1970s - cooperation with the Society for Chemical and Metallurgical Production, introducing unsaturated polyester resin, which became the primary raw material for button production and remains so to this day..
• 1974 - a completely new production line was launched in Nová Říše, the processing of plastic materials by injection molding. Over time, domestic injection molding machines of the CS series were gradually installed.
• 1976 - a new production hall was built in Studená, where the processing and polishing of buttons was concentrated, including sanitary facilities.
• 1980 to 1982 - a maintenance and central warehouse was built in Studená.
• 1982 - part of the warehouse in Nová Říše was adapted into a plastics molding plant.
• 1986 - 12 apartments built in Studená.
• 1987 - a new plastic molding plant built in the Nová Říše plant.

Late 1980s - first modern combination machines of TM NOVA type from Italian company BONETTI were purchased, enabling complete machining. In the context of the economic system at the time, STYL undoubtedly became a successful company on the domestic market, with a stable production and membership base, even though it was oriented exclusively to the local market.

One of the most significant milestones in the history of STYL was the turn of 1989/90, when the entire cooperative underwent fundamental changes.  September 21, 1992 — STYL transitioned into an owners’ cooperative. However, the most important change was the opening of the then Czechoslovak economy to the world, causing a huge increase in opportunities, but also in competition.

The 1990s - purchase of machines for casting polyester rods for button production (1991), introduction of a new, more efficient and environmentally friendly system of button plastering - the so-called wet polishing (1995), modern technology in the production of button blanks by rotational casting, purchase of additional machines, introduction of computer technology, visits to various trade fairs and later participation as a direct exhibitor. Domestic events include the Styl trade fair for clothing, textiles and accessories in Brno and previously also Trenčín - the city of fashion (6 awards for the best trade fair exhibition - EXPO IMAGE). Internationally, STYL exhibited at the INTERSTOFF textile and accessories fair in Frankfurt am Main and the specialized button-making exhibition SIBA in Piacenza, Italy, where STYL was the first company from the former Eastern Bloc to exhibit. This marked the start of the cooperative’s further successful development.

• 1991 - retraining of 20 female members in sewing professional garments in cooperation with Otavan Třeboň (cooperation ended in 2005). In the same year, STYL opened a company shop, which operated until 2006
• 1993 - the situation in the Nová Říše plant was greatly complicated during the 1990s by the fact that our cooperative handed over most of the buildings to the original owners, which eventually led to the transfer of the entire production of button blanks to a completely new blanks production facility in Studená (1994). The boiler houses in Studená were also reconstructed from LTO to natural gas.
• 1996 - purchase of the first modern injection molding machine from ENGEL due to the extension of cooperation with Centropen Dačice.
• 1997 - the peak of the development in production to date is undoubtedly the engraving of the surface of the buttons with a laser beam. This innovation opened up entirely new design possibilities, limited only by imagination. A semi-automatic machine with manual loading was purchased from Medicom Praha, followed by additional automatic machines for laser button decoration.

Hand in hand with this development, the way of creating new collections also changed. The aforementioned technologies enabled the production of various fanciful materials in the style of imitations of natural semi-finished products - mother-of-pearl, wood, horn, minerals, etc. STYL maintains strong connections with design centers, renowned fashion designers, and clothing manufacturers. These collaborations focus on meeting specific requirements for button shapes and, most importantly, seasonal color trends, allowing button and accessory collections to align closely with the latest fashion trends.

• 2000 - reconstruction of the boiler house in Nová Říše - switching from LTO to natural gas and building its own water source from a borehole in Studená. Since 2000, STYL regularly participated as an exhibitor at the TEXWORLD fair in Paris (spring, autumn).
• 2003 - introduction of a complex system for company management using computer technology from the company Vision, purchase of an automatic machine for processing natural materials (antlers, vegetable ivory) and an NC machine (Sincro Praxis) for processing buttons.
• 2004 - purchase of land in the Studená and Nová Říše premises from the state, which were in so-called permanent use.
• 2005 - sale of three apartments on the premises of the Nová Říše plant.
• 2008 - the sale of the abandoned building of the former factory kitchen, the company shop and the sewing workshop, as these premises were no longer needed. Production and supply of buttons made from the newly demanded UREA material.
• 2011 - implementation of a closed cooling circuit for injection molding machines and molds in Nová Říše.

From all these milestones, it is clear that the STYL cooperative is trying to do justice to the tradition of button making in Studená even in the new, challenging conditions of the market economy.

However, STYL’s success would not have been possible without the generations of dedicated individuals who contributed their efforts to the cooperative and have left behind their legacy, sometimes greater, sometimes smaller, depending on their diligence, opportunities, status and health.