The journey started in June 2020.

Once upon a time there were three sneaker and fashion-loving work colleagues in tranquil Augsburg. What began as a theoretical exuberance about social commitment, fast fashion, fair and sustainable fashion and their impact on our planet and society developed into a brand new business project by the three friends: Happy Birthday, Five12!

During the discussion, the need for change in the fashion world became clear, which is why the only logical step for the 3 was to make lasting changes. The mission: To provide sneaker lovers with stylish, regionally produced shoes while giving something back to society. You can read how we do this here.

If you look around the market at the moment, you'll quickly realize that modern and stylish unfortunately often means short-lived, cheaply produced, imported from far away and no longer intact until the next season. A real dilemma for the environment and fashion at the same time. At the same time, the main goal of many companies is simply maximum profit.

We searched the depths of the internet, but the right, sustainable sneaker for the fashion-conscious foot was nowhere to be found.

Stop it. We thought, “Alright – let’s just make it ourselves.”

Decision made, Five12 founded... and now?

Next we started looking for producers inside and outside Germany, chic design ideas and everything that goes with them from shoelaces to soles. With a clear goal in mind, necessity can become a virtue, but it was anything but easy to meet our standards for fairly produced, chic sneakers.

All's well that ends well: We'll save you the epic story from the birth of our shoe to the final copy. Spoiler alert: Trust us, it would be endless.

But just this much: countless mentors, a few changes of producers, 13 prototypes and so on...

We are proud to present to you our shoe collection, which is completely produced in Europe and is not only fair and for-purpose, but also thoroughly stylish.

We have now finally achieved what was important to us - a sneaker that makes us 100% happy, meets our high standards and makes our eyes shine with pride.

It's finally time to share this sneaker with you - with the world out there that is just as fashion-conscious and demanding as the three of us. We're confident you'll love it as much as we do, so step in!

Wer ist FIVE12

FIVE12 ist kein klassisches Unternehmen mit Organigramm und Visitenkarten. FIVE12 ist ein Kollektiv.

Es beginnt mit den Händen in der Produktion — Menschen, die jeden Schuh mit Sorgfalt fertigen, die auf nachhaltige Materialien achten und dafür sorgen, dass das, was am Ende bei dir ankommt, wirklich gut gemacht ist. Dann gibt es ein kleines Team in der Geschäftsführung, das die Idee am Leben hält, neue Produkte entwickelt, mit Partnern arbeitet und dafür sorgt, dass FIVE12 das bleibt, was es sein soll.

Und dann bist da noch du.

Jeder Kauf ist mehr als eine Transaktion. Er ist ein Bekenntnis zu einer anderen Art, Schuhe zu machen — nachhaltig, ehrlich, mit Substanz. Wer FIVE12 kauft, wird Teil des Kollektivs und unterstützt aktiv eine Produktionsweise, die wir für richtig halten.

Gemeinsam — Produktion, Team und Käufer — sind wir das, was FIVE12 ausmacht. Keine Geheimzutat, keine große Inszenierung. Nur Menschen, die an dieselbe Idee glauben.