Pfaff's first machine was handmade, and designed to sew leather in the manufacture of shoes.

In 1885, Georg Michael Pfaff opened a sewing machine shop in London.

Georg Pfaff, the second son of the founder, took over the management of the company after his father's death in 1893 and expanded it further with great success.

His daughter, Lina Pfaff, took over the company in 1917 when her brother Georg died and ran it successfully on a global scale until 1926.

[5] In 2006, the American equity firm Kohlberg & Company, owner of Singer, acquired Swedish VSM Group, owner of Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF, thereby creating SVP Worldwide.