In 1950, on the site of what is today the Draiflessen Collection’s main exhibition space, a C&A garment factory starts producing menswear. During the Second World War, C&A has already shifted part of its clothing production from Berlin, the traditional centre of German ready-to-wear manufacturing, to Mettingen. At first it sets up sewing studios in the rooms of various local hotels, and after the end of the war temporarily does the same in a youth centre. In 1951 599 people are employed at C&A’s new site in Bachstrasse. From the 1960s onwards, manufacturers of ready-made clothing in Germany face increasing competition from abroad. C&A’s buyers look for business partners first in Italy and Southeast Europe, and later in Eastern Europe and Asia, where wage costs in the labour-intensive industry are lower. The production of men’s jackets in Mettingen is discontinued in 1996 and sewing subsequently confined to small series, samples and models. At the end of 2004 the factory closes its doors. Staff are offered a redundancy package or continued employment in the company’s manufacturing facility in Essen.