Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Oregon’s constitution requires adults in custody to be involved in productive work. Through Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE), incarcerated men and women have job training and earn an income. Over 1,300 men and women inmates participate in OCE training and production each year. The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton, Oregon is home to an OCE apparel production facility, which has, since 1984, produced denim apparel focused on lumberjacks and timber industry consumers, and is branded Prison Blues. In 2018, OCE partnered with the University of Oregon Department of Product Design to design, document and manufacture contemporary denimwear. In this partnership, OCE helped students specify their designs for mass production, and students introduced contemporary materials, styles and customer bases to OCE. A capsule collection of apparel was produced by the incarcerated adults at the Pendleton OCE facility, and exhibited and sold in Brooklyn, NY and Eugene, OR. Results of the production and sales were presented to the OCE management and workforce. This partnership to create contemporary, durable work apparel that connects the incarcerated and the free individuals in our communities, elicited discussion on the value of productive work and training for both students and prison inmates, and contemporary perceptions of prison labor both within and outside of prison.