Gaby Aghion revolutionized the French fashion world in the 1950s with six dresses. Her company Chloé became a fashion institution. And her concept of wearable fashion at an affordable price - prêt-à-porter - becomes the leitmotif of an entire industry. Lack of money is certainly not the reason why Gaby Aghion becomes an entrepreneur. As the youngest of seven daughters of the successful tobacco producer Hanoka and the wife of the wealthy cotton scion Raymond Aghion, she could have led a comfortable life in Alexandria. But when the situation becomes more difficult for the Jewish residents there in 1945, the couple does not think twice: the world war is over and Paris, the city of elegance, is to become the new home of the two 24-year-olds....

Only rarely do entrepreneurs succeed in creating a product whose name then later becomes synonymous with all variations due to its fame. Edwin Herbert Land is such a case - even today, a photo taken with an instant camera is still known as: I'm taking a Polaroid. It's the comeback of the year. More instant cameras are sold today than in the days of analog photography. One-of-a-kind photos that can't be replicated and can be held in the hand instantly provide a counterpoint in the digital age. Users have to think before they pull the trigger. And pay for the film. The renaissance of this slow food of photography puts the spotlight on a very special man: Edwin Herbert Land, born in Connecticut on May 7, 1909. Land is a fanatical researcher,...

The inventor Antoine LeCoultre catapulted watch production into a new era. The fact that he succeeded in manufacturing all watch parts on machines marked the beginning of the watch industry. But disputes in the family almost prevented his success. For three years, Antoine LeCoultre had forged razors during the day to earn his living. And at night, he tinkered with his machine. In the summer of 1832, he finally had a milling machine in his forge that cut perfectly shaped watch gears from steel in a single operation. In the Vallée de Joux, the Swiss valley of watchmakers, this innovation was naturally viewed with skepticism and fear. For centuries, farmers there sawed gears with simple tools during the long winters. Virtually overnight,...

Ole Kirk Christiansen started a building boom on carpeted floors with Lego bricks. In over 80 years, his company has become an internationally successful toy company with over 9,000 employees. The destitute village where Ole Kirk Christiansen was born on April 7, 1891, is located in the Jutland nowhere. There, where pragmatism, diligence and faith in God are unshakable. And a little stubbornness is part of life. Even as a twelve-year-old apprentice carpenter, Ole doesn't like to conform. He is supposed to make fences, ladders and ironing boards. But he prefers to make toys. Useless stuff, according to brother Kristian. After the First World War and a few months of apprenticeship in Norway, Ole decides that in future no one should forbid...

Out of sheer necessity, an Italian confectioner replaced chocolate with nuts after World War II. The enthusiasm for his Supercrema was the basis for the success of a company that today ensures that people all over the world give their chérie a little kiss. Creativity often arises from simple need. This is probably why Pietro Ferrero, a confectioner and chocolatier from Alba, was so lucky that chocolate was in short supply in post-war Italy. There was only one thing in abundance: nuts, which fell at Ferrero's feet during walks around Alba. Well, they weren't just any nuts, but the fine "Tonda gentile delle Langhe" variety, also called "Round from Piedmont." Sometime in 1946, Ferrero unceremoniously replaced cocoa beans with nuts in a recipe,...

Wilhelm Karmann is considered the father of the convertible. His successful family business produced around three million bodies in the last century - mostly open and mostly for other major carmakers. But in the end, life in the niche doesn't work. The world looks most beautiful to those who whiz through it without a roof, Wilhelm Karmann thinks. It's 1901, and the 30-year-old from Krefeld has just made one of the most important decisions of his life. The ink on the contract with Minna Klages is still wet: Since August 1, 1901, Karmann has been the new owner of Christian Klages, Osnabrück's largest carriage builder, along with 15 employees and two houses at Kamp 30/31. The business is known beyond the city limits. Since 1874, everything...