The Zacher family, founders of Haunold by Zacher, has been running a traditional workshop in the heart of the Puster Valley since 1560. Passed down through generations, the family business evolved from a tannery into a millinery workshop, where wool felt was handcrafted and transformed into hats, insoles and slippers. Although the Zacher family had to stop hat production after World War I, wool processing and felt production have continued uninterrupted for several centuries.

Today, Haunold by Zacher processes around nine tons of South Tyrolean sheep’s wool each year, supporting the use of local raw materials and traditional craftsmanship. The atelier specialises in making felt slippers with sturdy soles, hand-shaped as though they were hats, and felted by using a historic hammer fulling machine that has been in operation since 1901. The workshop is run by five siblings who proudly continue the centuries-old tradition of felt making in the Italian Dolomites.