German company Haeftling (German for “prisoner”) made international headlines with the February 2008 opening of its Berlin shop.
In an industry where where boycotts and anti-sweatshop campaigns oppose the labor practices of most luxury goods and apparel production companies, Haeftling sets itself apart.
Haeftling also allows some creativity in the project, giving inmates the opportunity to design. The Haeftling-designed clothing is modeled after prison wear, and just constructed by the workers. But some pieces, like T-shirts, bear inmates’ original artwork.
At Haeftling’s Berlin store – and in their online shop – you can buy clothing and accessories for men and women, items for the home, and even coffee beans.
Inmates make about 20 percent of Haeftling’s products; the rest, more complicated pieces, are made elsewhere. Between three and five percent of the proceeds of each Haeftling product benefits prisoner charities and anti-death penalty organizations, like Amnesty International and the German Initiative Against the Death Penalty.
