A visit to Dirtlej, home of the legendary dirtsuit

Patrick Bardelli

19-8-2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

Pictures: Patrick Bardelli

Lena Kaiser and Jan Rühl have been developing high-quality, weatherproof bike clothing under the Dirtlej brand name since 2017. When I paid their unusual company a visit, their passion for their products was palpable.

I’m headed for a former indoor tennis court, located in a business district between Basel and Freiburg im Breisgau. When I arrive in Eimeldingen, Dirtlej’s Managing Director and co-founder, qualified mechanical engineer Jan Rühl, greets me with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. «Good to have you here,» he says with a smile.

But let’s circle back for a second. I first got my hands on some Dirtlej products this spring, and loved them. You can read my review of the rain jacket, vest and dirtsuit I tried out here:

All hands on deck

Back to the here and now. Jan’s wife Lena, who co-founded the business with him roughly ten years ago, is on business in Basel today. Alongside the two company founders, the Dirtlej team currently includes Semjon (product development), Katharina (administration), Nelson (sustainability) and Alex (design). They appear in that order from left to right in the photo above.

Jan’s keen to point out that everybody at Dirtlej mucks in on tasks outside of their actual area of expertise too, such as packaging products and sending them out to retailers or end customers. Or assisting on in-house photo shoots like the one happening on today’s visit.

This all-out approach bleeds into every aspect of the company. As well as clothing, Dirtlej’s product range includes sports sunglasses, bike protectors and care products. Although the manufacturing is done in China, Portugal and Italy, the company carries out as many processes as possible at its headquarters.

Take product testing, for example. Developer Semjon is at the helm of this, working from a small laboratory on tasks such as abrasion tests. A fabric that’ll go on to be used in the seat area, which comes under a particular amount of stress, undergoes between 10,000 and 50,000 test cycles.

What Semjon’s currently working on, however, is improving the brand’s bike protection gear. The geometry of mountain bikes is constantly changing, so he needs to adapt the protective gear used for transporting them on an ongoing basis. This way, he can make sure it offers the best possible protection for all relevant bike parts and prevent damage arising from transportation.

... Sustainability

Dirtlej uses durable materials and has made a conscious decision not to release seasonal collections. Nelson, who’s been responsible for sustainability at the company since 2021, explains Dirtlej also offers a repair service. Their motto? Repairing gear is always better than throwing it out. If a product really has reached the end of its life, customers can return it to Dirtlej via the I:CO take-back system, helping to close a textile industry production cycle loop.

Dirtlej fabrics’ DWR (durable water repellent) finish provides reliable protection against moisture and dirt, and is particularly well suited to heavy off-road activities, such as mountain biking. Around three quarters of Dirtlej’s products are currently PFC-free. PFC-free waterproofing needs to be redone more frequently for it to retain its full effect. Even so, Nelson says the environmental benefits justify this extra effort.

Dirt is in the company’s DNA

«Biking is a dirty sport,» Jan laughs. That thinking is present throughout the company, including in its name. The «lej» part that comes after «dirt» is made up of the «le» in Lena’s name and the «j» in Jan’s. Funnily enough, the brand owes its name to a Swedish bag manufacturer.

«Lena and I had originally decided on a different name. We’d already had the first product labels printed when we received a letter from a lawyer.» The letter stated that a company with a similar name already existed in Sweden, forcing the couple to hurriedly come up with a new name for their brand. As a result, Dirtlej was born.

In hindsight, Jan says, this was a stroke of luck. The previous name wasn’t quite as catchy. So, you could say that a Swedish bag manufacturer and a Munich law firm inadvertently made a small contribution to Dirtlej’s success story.

Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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