Right next to Zurich’s Fraumünster Church in District 1, an elegant wooden staircase with curved handrails leads over several floors to the top floor of the office of the Swiss company “Dagsmejan”, which sells sleep-optimized pajamas. “Dag” means “day” in Swedish, “Mejan” means “strength” – combined: “strength for the day”.
A pajama suit that promises a good night’s sleep costs around 200 francs. The product is a success: According to the company, over a million pajamas have been sold since it was founded in 2016. According to an analysis by the Financial Times, Dagsmejan is one of the fastest growing companies in Switzerland.
The founding couple Catarina Dahlin and Andreas Lenzhofer, who are also in a private relationship, welcome you for 20 minutes under the high gable roof and tell you how they have conquered bedrooms in over 100 countries with their innovative sleepwear. The Swedish marketing expert and the Swiss management consultant gave up their international careers in 2016 to become self-employed entrepreneurs.
Ms. Dahlin, hand on heart: Who even wears pajamas these days? Isn’t this item of clothing a discontinued model that is mainly worn by children and older people?
Catarina Dahlin: In fact, only around 40 percent of people still sleep in classic pajamas. The others either sleep naked or wear boxer shorts and an old T-shirt. We want to win these people over to our product.
So the target group is “boxer shorts wearers”?
Andreas Lenzhofer: (laughs) Exactly, the boxer shorts straps and the oldest-t-shirt-still-goes-to-sleep straps. We are aimed at all those who have lost understanding of what pajamas actually are, but of course also at those who wear conventional cotton pajamas but who care about what they wear. These are often very health-conscious people who, for example, spend a lot of money on high-quality sports or outdoor clothing.
Pajamas as a new lifestyle product – how did you come up with this idea?
Dahlin: I was traveling as a businesswoman in Asia for years and was constantly jetlagged, tired and in a bad mood. I realized how central sleep is to my well-being.
Lenzhofer: During Corona, the longevity trend, i.e. the need to live healthily for longer, increased. We realized that people invest a lot of money in products that improve their well-being, but pay little attention to sleep. Our idea was to create a product that optimizes sleep and therefore well-being. After all, we spend around eight hours a day sleeping. To have a good life you have to sleep well, it’s that simple.
To what extent should our sleep change exactly if we replace the old T-shirt with a Dagsmejan?
Lenzhofer: All life on earth runs in a 24-hour rhythm. Our sleep/wake rhythm is determined by changes in our body temperature. For example, our body temperature has to drop by around 0.75 degrees Celsius in the evening so that we can fall asleep. With our products we support our natural thermoregulation, ensuring that the body is in the ideal climatic comfort zone all night long. This means we can fall asleep better, stay asleep with fewer interruptions and therefore enjoy higher quality sleep.
There is also a special collection for athletes. What exactly do you have to imagine when you look at sports pajamas?
Dahlin: Our Recovery Collection has certain minerals incorporated into the fabric that reflect our body heat in the form of far-infrared energy, which then improves the oxygen supply and, as a result, the night-time regeneration of our muscles.
That sounds adventurous…
Lenzhofer: Sounds strange, but it works. (laughs) This is of course particularly beneficial in top-level sport.
Dahlin: Exactly. We work with a variety of athletes. For example with the Swiss national ice hockey team.
With the Dagsmejan pajamas you seem to have hit a zeitgeist. According to an analysis by the Financial Times, you lead the fastest-growing company (FT 1000) in Switzerland. How did you do that?
Lenzhofer: (laughs) We were surprised ourselves by this huge success. You would expect such a success story from a fintech or blockchain company, but not from a textile company. I think we simply had the right product at the right time and were able to reach our target group well with our social media campaigns and our own web shops.
Dahlin: The starting point for our success story is a product that actually offers added value. I read every single customer review every day. The feedback was so euphoric that we sometimes didn’t know whether it was really meant seriously. (laughs)
What do the customers write?
They travel almost exclusively digitally via web shops. Where do your customers come from?
Lenzhofer: We have most customers in Germany, but we sell the most pajamas in Switzerland. Almost half of all our sales take place here, the rest is spread out. We have customers in over a hundred countries. The USA is a rapidly growing market. Over 50 percent of our sales are repeat customers. There are people who already have over 50 pairs of pajamas.
A pajama top for women costs between 90 and 110 francs. The pajama pants again about the same amount. Isn’t that a pretty steep price?
Dahlin: Most people understand that our products are in a higher price segment because they also get quality and function.
Lenzhofer: Our pajamas cost 50 centimes per night per year. Considering the customer wears sleep-enhancing pajamas for eight hours night after night, that’s a fair offer.
Ms. Dahlin, you are originally from Sweden. How much Sweden is in Dagsmejan?
Dahlin: The Swedish philosophy, which combines design and function, is of course included. But so is Switzerland with its research and rich textile tradition.
It would be obvious to market a Swiss quality product more explicitly as a Swiss quality product, especially abroad. Are you consciously failing to do this?
Lenzhofer: Swiss Made is still very attractive, so it is an essential part of our communication. Only: the main focus in our communication is: Sleep better.
There is no brand that stands for pajamas more for Swiss people than Calida. What do you think of Calida pajamas?
Lenzhofer: Calida sells pajamas – we get better sleep, scientifically tested.
Would you let Calida buy you out?
Lenzhofer: That’s not an issue, Calida still has to digest her last two acquisition adventures.
Finally: When was the last time you had a vacation?
Dahlin: As a “wellbeing entrepreneur”, our personal health is of course very important to us, and this also means that we really prioritize our five weeks of vacation. However, there are still only a few days when we are truly offline. We’re working on that…
At least you’re always well rested.
Dahlin: (laughs) Exactly. I hope you too soon.