It all begins in 1939.

In her search for a new material to use for her dolls’ heads, the well-known doll maker Kaethe Kruse begins experimenting with a new substance.

As the material turns out to be unsuitable for serial production, her daughter Sophie does some experimenting of her own with it, mixing pastes and colours into it and then kneading it into a whole variety of shapes and objects.

She uses the material to create vases, mosaics, pictures, miniatures, figures and toys.

Sophie Rehbinder-Kruse sums up her philosophy as follows: ‘‘Mankind instinctively wants to model things; it is his way of cherishing and preserving something dear to him”. As a result, she goes on to develop her first modelling clay kit in 1954.

She creates the brand name FIMOIK by using the first two letters of her nickname ‘Fifi’, the ‘Mo’ from modelling clay and the final letters of ‘mosaic’, one of her favourite techniques.

Thanks to the family’s excellent connections to the toy trade, ‘Kaethe Kruses Ofenknete’ (oven-baked clay) is well received by the market..

In 1964, Eberhard Faber acquires all of the rights. In 1978, this company, established in 1922 in Neumarkt, becomes part of STAEDTLER Group.

In 1966, equipped with a new concept, improved recipe and better sounding name, ‘FIMO’ is successfully launched onto the market in a range of 15 colours, two different sizes of block and variety of gift sets.

A FIMO handbook jam-packed with suggestions and instructions and a number of different brochures inspire users to try their hand at a whole array of new creative ideas.

The range continues to grow. Over the years, new colours, including some with special glitter, stone and transparent effects are added to it.

Craft sets complete with accessories on a selection of creative themes are also introduced.

Today, the range comprises 72 different colours and is rounded off by a wide assortment of accessories such as ‘FIMO liquid’, varnishes, metallic powders, leaf metal, push moulds and metal jewellery bases.

Sophisticated FIMO techniques such as ‘millefiori’, ‘mokume gane’, ‘kaleidoscope’ and ‘Skinner blend’ have developed.

Gemstone imitations, silk-screen, patina, ink and impression effects etc. all make FIMO an extremely versatile material: For imaginative modelling by children and more complex applications in the field of art and jewellery design.