Who sewed uniforms for fascist troops. Global brands are fascist accomplices

Hugo Boss (Hugo Boss) – a German company producing luxury clothing and perfumes. Products are sold in 124 countries in more than 6,100 stores, both owned and operated through a franchise system.

Hugo Boss brand history

1885: birth of Hugo Ferdinand Boss, creator of the brand.

1923: Hugo Boss founded a small textile company in Metzingen(Germany), located south of Stuttgart. Initially, this was a family atelier combined with a small store. Then the business gradually gains momentum, and the enterprise becomes a garment factory, producing uniforms for workers, postmen and police officers.

1925: The company employs 33 employees. A crisis is approaching, and the company is trying to get out of it by producing hunting clothes, national costumes, work overalls, rubber and leather raincoats. Hugo Boss agrees with creditors on the purchase of 6 sewing machines. Some workers accept pay cuts to support the enterprise.

1931: there is a crisis in the country, the Hugo Boss factory is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the entrepreneur joins the National Socialist Party of Germany. She begins to receive orders for sewing SA, SS and Hitler Youth uniforms, which saves the company from ruin. However, the design of the uniform is not created by Hugo himself, but by Karl Diebitsch, who designs most of the military uniforms and regalia of the Third Reich.

1932-1945: Hugo Boss is the official supplier of clothing for both German soldiers, and for Wehrmacht and SS officers. During World War II, the factory was declared an important military enterprise., it employs about 150 forced laborers, primarily from Poland and Ukraine, as well as 30 French prisoners of war.

1946: The factory almost burns down again: Hugo Boss is accused of collaborating with the Nazis, fined 80,000 marks and deprived of the right to vote.

1948: Hugo Boss dies, and the company is headed by his son-in-law Eugen Holy. Hugo Boss once again specializes in uniforms for railway workers and postmen.

1953: Hugo Boss launches its first men's suit. This is a turning point in the history of the company: it begins to move away from mass production clothes and gradually approach the world.

1967: The company is headed by Uwe and Jochen Holy, the children of the former head of the company and the grandchildren of its founder. They are the ones who turn the brand into a world famous fashion brand.

1970s: Hugo Boss is growing rapidly. Firstly, the company becomes Germany's largest manufacturer of men's clothing. Secondly, the company is turning into an influential fashion house.

1972: Hugo Boss is sponsoring Formula 1 races and golf and tennis championships for the first time.

1975: talented ( Werner Baldessarini) begins to collaborate with Hugo Boss.

1984: launch of the brand's perfume line.

1993: the company becomes the property of the Italian holding Marzotto SpA (currently Valentino Fashion Group). The Hawley brothers are leaving the company. General Director Peter Littman becomes the company. It divides the brand into lines with different target audience: Boss, offering , Hugo with bold youth models, Baldessarini with luxury products.

1996: the appearance of the Hugo Boss award for achievements in contemporary art.

1997: the company receives a license to produce watches together with the Swiss brand Tempus Concept.

Several years ago, a scandal erupted around the published facts about the involvement of the world famous brand “Hugo Boss” in the creation military uniform for soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht. Famous designer Hugo Bossa accused of collaborating with the Nazis and personal connections with Hitler. The company even turned to historians for help to understand this issue. And although the results of a scientific study refuted many widely circulated myths about the designer, the company had to admit the fact of creating Nazi uniforms and apologize for the exploitation of prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners in factories.

At that time, the name Hugo Boss was not yet a well-known brand. He started his professional path as an employee of a garment factory in 1902. 6 years later, he inherited a textile shop from his parents, and in 1923 Hugo Boss opened his own sewing enterprise - a workshop for sewing workwear, windbreakers, overalls and raincoats for workers. In 1930, his company was on the verge of bankruptcy. To save her from ruin, he began sewing Wehrmacht uniforms.

Rumors that the world-famous Hugo Boss company was profiting from collaboration with the Nazis appeared in the late 1990s, agitated society and caused a loud scandal. In 1997, the company publicly admitted its collaboration with the Nazis. Since this had a negative impact on the brand image, the company sponsored Scientific research these facts, which was carried out by the Munich historian Roman Kester. In 2012, he published a book entitled Hugo Boss, 1924–1945. A garment factory between the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich,” in which he detailed the results of his research.

As it turned out, Hugo Boss was actually engaged in sewing military uniforms for the Wehrmacht and received large profits from these orders. And the factory used the forced labor of 140 immigrants from Poland and 40 French prisoners. However, no written evidence has survived that Hugo Boss was Adolf Hitler's personal tailor. In addition, the designer did not participate in the development of sketches and the creation of patterns, and his factory was one of many, far from the largest, of all companies that were engaged in sewing uniforms.

In fact, the designer of the black SS uniform was not Hugo Boss, but Karl Diebitsch, a German artist, designer and SS officer, and the SS emblem in the form of two Sieg runes was designed by graphic artist Walter Heck. The black color of the SS officers' uniform was intended to evoke respect and fear, but it soon turned out that this color had a significant drawback: summer time he absorbs solar radiation and provokes profuse sweating. Therefore, the black color was soon replaced by gray, although black continued to be used in the ceremonial uniforms of the highest echelon SS officers. The Hugo Boss factory only produced uniforms designed by Karl Diebitsch.

But the fact that Hugo Boss collaborated with the Nazis not out of coercion, but out of personal conviction, was confirmed even by his son. In 2007, Siegfried Boss publicly admitted that his father was a member of the Nazi Party and commented on this fact: “ Who wasn't a member at that time? The entire industry worked for the Nazis" Back in 1931, the designer voluntarily joined the National Socialist Workers' Party of the NSDAP and was himself a convinced Nazi. It has become main reason, according to which his factory was registered as an important military enterprise and received a large order for sewing Wehrmacht uniforms. German historian Henning Kober claims that all representatives of the management of the Hugo Boss company were Nazis and supporters of Hitler.

After the end of the war, the factory again began producing workwear for postmen, police officers and railway workers. And its owner was tried, he escaped prison, but was sentenced to pay a fine of 100 thousand marks. True, Hugo Boss was later partially rehabilitated, and his status was changed: from an “accused” he turned into a “sympathizer.” In 1948, the designer passed away at the age of 63. His company became a world famous brand after his death.

After the publication of Roman Kester's book, Hugo Boss posted a statement on its website in which it expressed: deep regret for the suffering suffered by those who had to work in the Hugo Boss factory under the Nazis”, which recognized the legitimacy of the historian’s conclusions.

And in the fashion world, the uniforms of the Third Reich, created by Hugo Boss, are considered the most beautiful and stylish military uniforms. In the 1990s. even a new movement was born - Nazi chic - Nazi chic. It was especially popular in Japan, where neo-Nazi organizations appeared. True, such a fashion is dictated not by aesthetic preferences, but by socio-political views, and is very far from ethical considerations - what is called “beyond good and evil.”

Similar rumors circulated about the founder of another famous brand:

Guess who the designer of the fascist uniform was?
Hugo Boss :)

Global brands are fascist accomplices

The political gaffe was averted by a vigilant citizen who complained that he had been given documents for a car with the fascist abbreviation of the long-defunct NSB party. The Dutch Ministry of Transport immediately assured that the error was due to a glitch in computer program, which tracks vehicle license plates, preventing registration of license plates with certain prohibited combinations of letters. Now all the normal signs are ready, and the owners will soon receive them.

In addition to NSB, the following abbreviations will not be used on license plates: KKK (Ku Klux Klan), PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), or letter combinations representing any political parties, curse words and the abbreviated name of the Dutch football club PSV Eindhoven. The letter combination Philips Sport Vereniging (PSV) translated from Dutch simply means “Philips Sports Union”. On August 31, 1913, a football club from the Dutch city of Eindhoven was founded by a team of Philips employees."

If you live in Amsterdam and are a passionate fan of the Amsterdam club Ajax, you will probably not be very comfortable driving a car with a PSV license plate,” the ministry’s press service said.

The story of letters on license plates looks like little flowers compared to the vinaigrette of political correctness and economic competition.

In 2006, the Austrian magazine Profil produced a sensation that the world famous brand HUGO BOSS had its reputation tarnished during the Second World War. The company of the same name sewed not only uniforms for Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, but also for the SS. International Tribunal in Nuremberg, the SS was recognized as a criminal organization, and its employees were subject to trial. In addition, the magazine article noted that the company used the labor of concentration camp prisoners. A year later, Hugo Boss's son, Siegfried, admitted that his father was a member of the Nazi Party. “The whole industry worked for the Nazis,” added the 83-year-old scion of the fashion empire’s founder.

Hugo Boss opened his sewing workshop in 1923 at the height of economic crisis. Until 1931, it generated virtually no income, until the cunning fellow joined the Nazi party NSDAP. Two years later, Boss achieved a government order for the production of uniforms for stormtroopers, SS men, Wehrmacht soldiers, as well as the Hitler Youth organization. The uniform he developed is deservedly considered the best in the history of military uniforms. After the war, Boss was fined 80,000 Reichsmarks as an accomplice of the Nazi regime. And in 1948, Hugo Boss finally retired, transferring his enterprise into the hands of his heirs.

In addition, prisoners of the “death camps” worked at many German enterprises, such as Krupp, Siemens, Bayer, at Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Porsche automobile plants, and even stood at the assembly lines of the American company Ford. Logically, for the exploitation of the labor of hundreds of thousands of prisoners, these companies and the products they produce should be boycotted.

And further. The black SS uniform (well known to our viewers from the series “Seventeen Moments of Spring” directed by Tatyana Lioznova) was invented by a 34-year-old heraldry specialist, a member of the “Imperial Association of German Artists,” Professor Karl Diebitsch with his assistant Walter Heck. The latter also developed the emblem in the form of a double zig rune and the design of bladed weapons for the SS. Atelier Hugo Bossa was engaged only in sewing uniforms for party bosses and senior officials SS and Luftwaffe. Diebitsch was inspired to create the SS uniform by the uniform of the Prussian "Hussars of Death" (colloquially German from the 18th century It is customary to call the 1st Life Hussar Regiment and the 2nd Life Hussar Regiment of Queen Victoria of Prussia with the word Totenkopfhusaren), whose mirlitons were decorated with the Totenkopf emblem - “death's head”. The combination of black and white is a tribute to the heraldic colors of the Kingdom of Prussia. Ironically, the Russian Empire had its own black hussars, wearing similar uniforms: the Fifth Regiment of Alexandrian Hussars.

Black uniforms and caps for SS members were introduced on July 7, 1932, and after 1939, a massive transition of General SS members to gray uniforms began. In fact, from that moment on, they stopped wearing black uniforms, giving preference to gray and field uniforms. In 1944, the wearing of black uniforms was abolished in Germany. Soviet figures cultures have turned her into a memorable symbol of the SS.

The time has long passed when reenactors were confused with role-players. Today, historical reconstruction is often no longer just a hobby, but also serious work - research, study of crafts and restoration work, regular intensive training, working with young people, speaking to audiences and much more. The reconstruction movement has existed for centuries. Back in the 17th century, certain historical events, victories, so that the people do not forget their history. In post-revolutionary Russia, the first reconstruction was carried out in 1920 - the storming of the Winter Palace, a costumed military “show” in which about 10 thousand people took part. Reconstruction of the Second World War in the Soviet Union originated in the 80s, when the first attempts were made to create mass events. Almost every reenactor has a sufficient number of original antique items, since it is our custom for everything to look as authentic as possible. Special attention is given, in particular, soldier's life: to have money from those times in your pockets, wallets, soap, razor, Toothbrush. Many have a fully equipped duffel bag or backpack, some kind of food in their cracker bags, some have old German newspapers.

Replicas of tunics, awards and equipment of the 3rd Reich

Military uniforms of Wehrmacht soldiers Some are perceived as the embodiment of evil, others - as an ordinary exhibit of collections or a necessary attribute of historical reconstructions. But regardless of the attitude, the form of the Third Reich is interesting in itself - from the point of view of its diversity and the reasons that determined certain design decisions.

Lovers and connoisseurs of history usually live outside of time and boundaries. They are trying to replenish their collections amazing things, which can be dated back to the past, the century before last. New models are also in demand. Now the reconstruction of the 3rd Reich uniform is of great value. It is used not only as exhibits, but also for public events of various historical clubs.

Almost all remakes of 3rd Reich items are completely identical to their analogues. There is only one difference - recent production, which increases the service life. Buying a copy of 3rd Reich clothing for reconstruction is quite simple - just contact our online catalog Antik1941. We guarantee fast delivery throughout Russia.

Buy a copy of awards and weapons of the 3rd Reich

Not only the uniforms, but also other accessories and items of the 3rd Reich are of great value. Our catalog is replete with various accessories that will help you carry out reconstruction. Among them:

• copies of German uniforms;
• firearms models;
• dummies of awards;
• copies of German orders;
  
• reconstruction of interior items;
• and much more.

If you need replicas of 3 Reich weapons, you can choose not only machine guns and pistols, but also dummy daggers and brand new German knives. This will help you fully experience the times. brutal war, touch the ancient history. Everything is distinguished by quality, full compliance with the original.

Many people contact us to buy a copy of the 3rd Reich award. Based on the awards of a certain era, one can determine what the priorities of the nation were and what people were striving for.

We are always ready to help you purchase remakes and original antiques. Contact our online catalog at any time, place orders that will be fulfilled promptly.

High-quality copies of German orders and medals, copies of daggers and bayonet knives, reconstruction German uniform from WWII, models of firearms, reconstruction of German military equipment, copies of steel helmets, reconstruction of household and interior items of the 3rd Reich- we repeat once again that all these things are intended for historical reconstruction, but not as propaganda criminal regime, which existed in the 3rd Reich until 1945...

Controversy surrounding the form Russian army, designed by the fashion house of Valentin Yudashkin, have not stopped since its appearance, and Sergei Shoigu, having become Minister of Defense, only intensified the criticism. In this article, FURFUR looks back at seven designers and artists who developed military uniforms and talks about what they came up with.

Yudashkin for the Russian army

The uniform, approved by President Medvedev in 2010, is in the popular mind associated with the name of the fashion house of Valentin Yudashkin, but he himself has only an indirect connection to it: the samples created there (according to both sides, absolutely free of charge) were greatly changed by officials of the Ministry of Defense. It was at the finalization stage that the uniform was simplified, the shoulder straps were moved from the shoulders to the chest (especially hated by officers innovation) and it was decided to use cheap Chinese fabrics for its production, which caused an increase in illnesses due to hypothermia among conscript soldiers.

This fact was not advertised until they tried to pin the blame for all the shortcomings on Yudashkin (Zhirinovsky even accused him of not serving in the army - in fact, of course, he did). But according to the results of the investigation of the Main military prosecutor's office All responsibility for them lies with the Department of Resource Support of the Ministry of Defense. And the designer even published photographs of the model in the original form on his Twitter. Judging by them, the only significant similarity between his sketches and the result is the pixel camouflage that replaced the traditional “Flora”.

Hugo Boss for SS

The Wehrmacht uniform, contrary to popular myth, was not created by Hugo Ferdinand Boss. However, the founder of the fashion house is still related to the uniform of the Third Reich. At that time, he was the owner of a clothing factory, which went uphill thanks to a government order to sew uniforms for stormtroopers, the SS, the Hitler Youth and other paramilitary forces of the Nazi Party.

Having earned trust in the pre-war years, in the early 1940s the Bossa factory, already in the status of an important military enterprise, received a large government order for the production of uniforms. When there was a shortage of workers, vacant jobs were given to residents deported to the Reich for forced labor. of Eastern Europe and French prisoners of war. And yet it is difficult to make an evil Nazi out of Boss - documents have been preserved that testify to his attempts to improve working conditions and better settle forced laborers. Nevertheless, in 1946 he was recognized as an active collaborator of the Nazis, deprived of voting rights and the right to conduct business, and also paid a huge fine for those times of 80 thousand marks.

Vasnetsov for the Red Army

One of the first experiments in attracting artists and fashion designers to the development of military uniforms dates back to 1918, when by order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs Trotsky, a temporary commission was created to create a new uniform for the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army), whose fighters had previously worn the imperial uniform army.

The commission announced a competition to develop a new form, in which Vasnetsov, Kustodiev, Ezuchevsky, Arkadyevsky and other artists participated. Most of them already had experience creating costumes from working in the theater. The competition did not have one winner - the commission developed new uniform based on several proposed works. Those uniforms are remembered mainly for their lack of shoulder straps - a visual expression of abolition military ranks and officers. The same form also included the budenovka - a new helmet reminiscent of a uniform ancient Russian warrior. True, it was made for the army Russian Empire, but never managed to enter service before the revolution.

Michelangelo for the Swiss Guard

One of the most common myths in the field of uniform design is associated with the Vatican Swiss Guard (full name - Infantry Cohort of the Swiss Sacred Guard of the Pope). Wikipedia, tour guides and even some art historians persistently attribute the sketches of this form to the brush of Michelangelo. There are indirect reasons for this, because the Swiss Guard was founded in 1506, during the highest rise of Renaissance culture, and its red, blue and yellow camisoles have a typically Renaissance style.

But there is no evidence of Michelangelo's authorship. It is interesting that the official Vatican website, while refuting the version of Michelangelo, nevertheless notes that another titan of the Renaissance, Raphael, influenced the form of the Swiss, as well as the fashion of that era in general.

Armani and Valentino for the Italian police

Very similar story connects two great masters of the 20th century. The fact is that there is a very popular belief on the Internet according to which modern form Italian police was developed either by the house of Armani or Valentino. Like any other, this legend has several editions and versions - for example, that both fashion houses sewed for the police, but for its different units (the uniforms of Italian law enforcement officers differ significantly).

Authentic Apparel x U.S. Army

In November 2013, it became known that Authentic Apparel Group was releasing a men's clothing collection inspired by military uniforms and officially licensed by the US Department of Defense. For the first time in its history, the Pentagon gives permission to use the U.S. branding and name. Army.

This is not a franchise, but a real collaboration: representatives of the ministry checked each element of the collection for compliance with army standards. And part of the amount raised from sales of the first collection will be donated to a program to help military personnel, veterans and their families.

Text: Grigor Atanesyan