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Hugo boss brand of which country. Brand history: Hugo Boss. Hugo Boss brand bags and shoes

Gynecology

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 ordinary German soldiers and 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 of clothing and gradually approaches 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. Peter Littman becomes the general director of the company. He divides the brand into lines with different target audiences: 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.

Hugo Boss is a German brand of men's and women's clothing, shoes and accessories, owned by the German company Hugo Boss AG. The range is very wide. The quality varies: sometimes frankly mediocre, sometimes very good... but perhaps never great or ideal. Price segments: above average and upper.

In Russia, Hugo Boss items can be bought in branded stores, the Moscow TSUM, the TSUM discount, the "Ostaki Sladki" discount on Savvinskaya Embankment (owned by Bosco di Ciliegi, the official distributor of Hugo Boss), Stockmann stores and some online stores (tsum. ru, bosco.ru). Be careful with multi-brand stores, as Hugo Boss clothing is quite actively counterfeited.

Story

The Hugo Boss company was founded in 1924 in the city of Metzingen by a German merchant-entrepreneur named Hugo Boss. The Boss factory specialized in the production of shirts, jackets, jackets and raincoats, but the enterprise turned out to be unprofitable due to the economic decline of those years. In 1931, due to large debts, Hugo actually had to start all over again. This time his business turned out to be more successful, but there is such a black spot on him that it is impossible to get rid of it - you can only keep silent about it.

The point is that the Hugo Boss company worked closely with the Hitler regime. Of course, this fact is not advertised by the brand, although it was officially recognized by it. Of course, in those days many German companies worked for the fascist authorities, but the situation with Hugo Boss stands out among others: Hugo joined the Nazi party back in 1931, a couple of years before Hitler came to power - and, apparently, was an active supporter Hitler's ideology. Nobody forced him to do this.

In addition, Hugo Boss became a member of the SS - and, in fact, with the help of the Nazis, was able to improve his affairs. Soon the Hugo Boss company became a major manufacturer of uniforms for German soldiers, postmen, railway workers, members of the Hitler Youth... Cooperation with the fascist regime helped increase its turnover by 85 times, and its profit by 48 times (if we compare the results of 1932 and 1941, but not take inflation into account). It is not surprising that seventy years later, various mocking collages began to appear on the Internet - for example, this one:

Moreover, there is information that Hugo Boss was personally acquainted with Hitler, as well as information that the top management of Hugo Boss in those years was very pro-Nazi (according to historian Henning Kober). During the Second World War, Hugo Boss did not disdain the free labor of prisoners of war - about 40 French and 140 Poles, and possibly prisoners from other countries, including the USSR. All of them were kept in very poor conditions.

Under public pressure in the 1990s, Hugo Boss, on its own initiative, commissioned an investigation into the firm's activities in the 1930s and 1940s from historian Elisabeth Timm, but was apparently horrified by the results and refused to publish them (however, this research is now available in the public domain). However, then the Hugo Boss company nevertheless joined the compensation fund for former forced laborers and paid more than a million US dollars there.

Now let's go back to 1945. It is not surprising that after the end of World War II, Hugo Boss was tried, removed from running the business and forced to pay a very substantial fine. The boss died shortly after this - in 1948, but his company was able to survive the crisis. She switched from producing uniforms to sewing men's suits and gradually occupied her very strong niche in the domestic market.

In the 1970s, the strengthened company entered the international arena and became a sponsor of several racing drivers and teams; The beginning of the expansion of the Boss brand dates back to the same time (before that it was not used, and it was registered only in 1977). 1984 was marked by the launch of perfumes under its own brand, and the following year the company became a joint-stock company and entered the Frankfurt stock exchange.

In 1989, Hugo Boss launched its own brand of sunglasses; In addition, in the second half of the 1980s, the company became a sponsor in the world of tennis and golf (in particular, in 1987 it sponsored the Davis Cup). In 1993, the Hugo and Baldessarini brands were launched, and in 1995, shoes appeared in the Hugo Boss range.

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, Hugo Boss actively began opening branded stores and also continued to develop an international sales network. Today, the company's products are represented in more than 120 countries and in a total of at least six thousand stores; the company itself owns several hundred branded stores, and more than a thousand Hugo Boss boutiques are franchised. The company's net profit as of 2010 amounted to more than 262 million US dollars.

Range

As noted above, the Hugo Boss range is very large. The company produces both very formal and informal clothing in different styles. The design can be both very restrained and boring, and bright and cheerful. The color range is very diverse, although gray and blue tones clearly predominate. The assortment includes items of a conservative cut, and clearly youth clothing and shoes.

It should be noted that in Hugo Boss stores you can buy clothes, shoes, and accessories - in fact, you can dress from head to toe. As a rule, the level of Hugo Boss items is not too high, but I wouldn’t call it frankly low either. Perhaps the brand is one of the brightest manifestations of the luxury mass market - a phenomenon described by me in.

Here are the characteristics of the “average” Hugo Boss suit. Design - plastic buttons, no manual operations. As a rule, the materials used are 100% wool fabrics, including wool with low super values; sometimes cotton and . The lining is made of viscose or (for more expensive models) viscose and the bottom is hemmed using a regular machine. The cuffs are usually non-functional. Country of origin: usually Türkiye, but there are exceptions.

It's fair to add that there are higher-end Hugo Boss suits (although they clearly make up a small proportion of the overall range). The buttons of such suits can be made of natural materials (for example, mother-of-pearl), the construction is (and perhaps fully-canvassed), the lining is 100% cupro; There may even be a couple of manual operations involved. The fabrics for expensive Hugo Boss suits are mainly Italian: Guabello, Drago, Ferla, sometimes even Loro Piana (up to super 150s).

Hugo Boss trousers are equipped with a regular belt (not), plastic or metal buttons, and a YKK zipper. Fastening: zipper + button or zipper + 2 buttons + hook. Countries of production: in most cases Türkiye and Romania.

The “average” Hugo Boss shirt is made of fairly ordinary cotton fabric, equipped with plastic buttons sewn on without a stem. The side seams are sewn in , the yoke is regular (not), the sleeves are sewn as usual (the long seam on the sleeve goes into a long side seam). there are no manual operations. The bones in the collar are plug-in (). Production is Asian or Eastern European. Single models are made from Albini fabrics, some from . Fabrics are used quite often. Collars are usually fused.

Hugo Boss shoes and boots are produced mainly in India and have, to put it mildly, not a very attractive price-quality ratio. Constructions: , Vulcanized, . The most expensive models are made in Italy, but again they do not reach the highest class. The design can be either strict, classic and cute, or quite controversial (as in the photo below).

Finally, ties. They are made in Italy, but they do not cause delight. The fabrics are natural (usually 100% silk), but not very pleasant - they are far from Luciano Barbera or Dolcepunta. It is possible that the back seam, although closed at the ends with two bartacks, is at least in some cases made on a Liba machine, simulating a hand stitch (for more details, see the article on). The width of ties varies between 6-8 centimeters. On the reverse side there is a loop made of the same material as the tie itself. There is no self-reinforcement (that is, ties are not).

Rulers

Hugo Boss' best lines are Selection and Tailored, but it is curious that Selected is currently not on the official website. Other lines, much more common:

  • Boss Black/Boss- main line; business and informal clothing for men and women
  • Boss Orange- informal men's and women's clothing (casual)
  • Boss Green- informal men's and women's clothing with a sporty twist
  • Hugo- business and informal men's and women's clothing with a fashionable twist

Personal impressions. Reviews

Although I have a very lukewarm attitude towards Hugo Boss in general, I am satisfied with the only thing from this brand that I own. These are informal cotton trousers - a kind of hybrid of jeans and chinos. They turned out to be quite good, comfortable, wear-resistant; They tolerate washing well and have lasted for more than three years. They can be called workhorses - of course, in terms of level they are noticeably inferior to the best Italian “analogues”, they look quite simple, but they cope with their function well.

There was a time when I wanted to buy a Hugo Boss suit, jacket, shirt... but, fortunately, I quickly realized that it was not worth it: these are not clothes worth pursuing. Yes, Hugo Boss also sells cute and high-quality items, but the prices are so inflated that even on sales it makes sense to buy not everything. Hugo Boss clothes and shoes, I repeat, are very ordinary, and although sellers and marketers are trying to position Hugo Boss as a cool and “premium” brand, it should be remembered that in essence it is not cool at all... and it is far from premium, not speaking of luxury.

The clothes of this brand are so strongly associated with success and power that it seems that these concepts are sewn into them at the factory. Strictly maintained styles, restrained colors and impeccable German workmanship are the hallmarks of Hugo Boss clothing. In the summer of 2014, American designer Jason Wu was appointed creative director of the brand. Thanks to his ability to create interesting evening looks, elegant liberation was added to the German reliability of Hugo Boss.

The history of Hugo Boss is not entirely typical: as a rule, the founder of the brand makes a significant contribution to the development of fashion, and the company is named after him during his lifetime. However, with Hugo Boss everything happened differently. In the 1920s, Hugo Boss, sometimes without even mentioning his name, began producing overalls, protective clothing, raincoats and uniforms for soldiers and workers. The first suit that made the brand famous was released in 1954, a few years after the death of Hugo himself. His grandchildren, Uwe and Johan Holy, approved their grandfather’s name as the name of the company - it emanated solidity, it was readable and easy to pronounce in almost all languages ​​- and began step by step to establish the company’s international authority.

Today, Hugo Boss is one of the most influential companies in the fashion world and has an annual turnover of approximately $1.67 billion.

The brand has several clothing lines:

    Black Label - classic style for a business man;

    Orange Label - casual weekend wear, you feel cozy and comfortable in it, but at the same time it is not purely sporty;

  • The Hugo line is clothing for stylish, creative young people who are always on the move;
  • Baldessarini - exquisite clothes for going out;
  • The new Selection line occupies a niche between Black Label and Baldessarini. These are exclusive fabrics, handmade, very high quality;

Probably, the phrase “German fashion” may seem somewhat unusual to some, but there is a brand in the world that refutes this skepticism. This is Hugo Boss, one of the best-known and most prestigious brands that has achieved success in the very complex and capricious field of producing ready-to-wear, that is, ready-to-wear clothing made on the basis of the dominant trends of a given season. Throughout its history, the company has seen many dramatic turns, and each time some outstanding personality played a role in overcoming the problems, using an unusual marketing technique.

Founder

Biographers of Hugo Boss differ in some points of his life story, but judging by the indisputable information, we can conclude that he:

  • Born in Metzingen in 1885 into a middle-class bourgeois family.
  • He graduated from school, a vocational school and received a special education in trade.
  • He worked as a weaver, then served in the Reichswehr (1902-1905), and after demobilization he again became a simple worker, and remained so until his parents died.
  • Having inherited the family business, he got married.
  • From 1914 to 1918 he was again in the army, but did not perform any special feats at the front.

Perhaps some details of the biography are of historical interest, however, since they are not directly related to business, we can consider that the above is quite sufficient. Hugo Boss opened his own business in his native Metzingen in 1923, already at the ripe age of 38. He most likely did not shine with any outstanding talents.

Your own business

The direction in which Herr Boss decided to succeed should objectively be considered promising. Uniforms for schutzmanns, firefighters, postmen and other government employees, in theory, should always be in demand. People can buy these dresses and suits or not, but the authorities will certainly dress the police - that’s what Hugo thought when he opened a clothing production. Probably, there were still some miscalculations in the business plan or the general economic situation in the country turned out to be worse than predicted, but by the end of the decade, Boss’s company was seriously threatened with bankruptcy. Germany paid monstrous reparations, and even state institutions did not have enough money. Historians point to the dedication of the workers who agreed to the reduction in prices, but they probably did not quit out of any special devotion to their employer, but simply because they had nowhere to go. Unemployment was breaking all records. This is where an interesting story happened.

Membership of the NSDAP

Only in 1997 did the management of the Hugo Boss brand formally recognize the obvious fact of the company's collaboration with the Nazi leadership of Germany. Actually, there would be nothing special about this - not a single German brand that survived the Second World War retained a clean reputation. The point is different. Hugo Boss joined the NSDAP two years before Hitler came to power, and even sewed brown shirts for stormtroopers. It is quite possible that the ideas of National Socialism seemed close to the founder of the enterprise (many people then “bought” the beautiful words). On the other hand, the Nazis paid money, which was not at all extra for a bankrupt company. The controversy surrounding whether Hugo Boss was a convinced fascist, or simply pretending to be one for commercial reasons, continues to this day.

Karl Diebitsch, designer

Hugo Boss was not an artist-fashion designer, he had no experience in designing clothes, and his enterprise sewed mainly uniforms, which did not require particularly sophisticated approaches. When in 1934 the company received an order to develop uniforms for SS officers, Karl Diebitsch got down to business and managed to create a unique example of its kind, combining the original aesthetics characteristic of the Third Reich. The form made a frightening impression. In war conditions, however, black tunics, richly decorated with runes and skulls, turned out to be impractical, and they also attracted increased attention from enemy snipers. In addition to SS uniforms, the company produced other uniforms. There were also rumors that the Boss dressed the Nazi leadership, including the Fuhrer, but there is no documentary evidence of this. A lot of soldier's clothing was required, and all sewing enterprises in Germany produced it.

Post-war period

In 1945, Hugo Boss was fined 80 thousand marks and deprived of the right to vote, mainly for the exploitation of forced labor. Slaves (French, Poles and citizens of the USSR) stolen from the occupied territories to work in Germany were kept in hellish conditions. However, the entrepreneur, who found himself in the zone of responsibility of the Western allies, was not subjected to serious reprisals and continued his business. In 1948, Hugo Boss died at the age of 63, leaving the company to his son-in-law. Under the leadership of Eugen Holy, the company continued to sew the same railway and postman uniforms with which it all began. This continued until 1967.

Uwe and Jonen Holi

The Hugo Boss brand was created by the grandchildren of Hugo Boss. Before this, a timid attempt to sew men’s “civilian” suits was made by their father Eugen Holy in 1953, and this product was probably of good quality, but did not bring success. Having become heirs, the brothers decided to radically change their business strategy. They divided their responsibilities according to the classical scheme: Uwe became technical director, taking on management responsibilities, and Jonen took up design and collections, as well as marketing and advertising. This approach paid off - turnover grew to 3.5 million Bundesmarks, and the suits sold very well, but only in Germany. Some kind of “trick” was required.

Any story can be told with numbers and facts. But not the history of the Hugo Boss brand. And if fashion houses have a destiny, then the German company Hugo Boss AG, whose headquarters is located in Metzingen, has a difficult one. Many people today are fascinated by the following facts:

  • Supplier of luxury tuxedos for the Oscars (200 pieces annually).
  • Sponsor of the Guggenheim Museum of Art and its affiliates.
  • One of the patrons of Formula 1 auto racing and “aristocratic” sports.
  • 6,000 branded salons in 120 countries.

But there were periods of fiasco - bankruptcy, loss of reputation. But the brand survived. In the modern fashion industry, this is one of the most famous and most respectable Haute Couture houses. Its history is so closely intertwined with the history of the era that it is studied not only by fashion chroniclers, but also by researchers of ancient events. The historian-publicist Roman Köster published a book on this subject, “Hugo Boss, 1924-1945. A clothing factory between the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich."

To the origins of formation

The forerunner to the formation of the brand was the opening of a business by an ordinary tailor named Hugo Ferdinand Boss. It was a period of reconstruction for the country: the devastating First World War had just ended. Germany, like all of Europe, needed textile products at that time. To this end, in 1923, Hugo opened his first company in a small town in Baden-Württemberg. Thus began the history of one of the famous and respected brands. Things took off - he soon became the owner of a factory that made uniforms for police officers, postmen and laborers.

Two years later, in 1925, the workforce numbered 33 employees. A time of crisis is approaching, and as a way out of it, Hugo expands his assortment, adding hunting equipment, national costumes, rubber raincoats, and leather jackets to his uniform. Some dedicated employees agree to take a pay cut for the good of the cause.

But the widespread crisis of that period took its toll. By 1930, Hugo Ferdinand Boss was forced to declare bankruptcy. It’s paradoxical: the founder of the Hugo Boss brand did not think about fashion, about the high mission of beautifying women and masculine elegance. He was a practical man with an entrepreneurial spirit. He turned out to be a victim of time, and a name was laid on the altar, the honor of which had to be restored by children and grandchildren.

In the service of the 3rd Reich

It is known that in addition to economic phenomena, any business is influenced by political and social events. Thanks to them, Hugo's company got a chance for revenge. The year 1931 was marked by the owner’s entry into the National Socialist party ranks. And since 1932, his factory began to work for the authorities. The entire German army, including Wehrmacht officers, began to wear uniforms issued by the company. True, the design of the military equipment of the SS, SA, and Hitler Youth belongs not to Hugo Boss, but to Karl Diebitsch. To increase production volumes during this period, Polish, Ukrainian, and French prisoners of war worked in sewing workshops.

Of course, these facts could not go unnoticed after the end of the war. Hugo Boss was convicted of collaborating with the Nazis and was punished with a fine and deprivation of voting. And a big dark spot fell on the company’s reputation. But it was the post-war years again, the company turned out to be in demand. German postmen and police officers again wore uniforms from a tailor who did not even suspect that his name would be crowned with a standard classic in clothing.

New stage - new format

The year 1948 was marked by a tragic event: Hugo Boss dies. The company lives and develops further thanks to the traditions of family. In the 50s, the factory sewed not only uniforms, but also the first suits for men. This was the first step, the first interest in fashion trends. So workwear gives way to stylish things. The picture completely changes in 1967: the grandchildren of the founder, siblings among themselves - Johan and Uwe Holi take the company into their own hands. In the context of a general economic recovery, they take the Hugo Boss case to the highest level.

Period 70-80 marked with very important milestones:

  1. In 1972, Hugo Boss established a tradition of sponsoring annual Formula 1 races and other championships.
  2. In 1975, the company's staff was joined by the brightest designer of our time - Werner Baldessarini.
  3. 1984 is the debut year for the brand's perfumes.

The Holy brothers turned out to be great strategists. In 1985, the company was transformed into a joint stock company and took on the official name Hugo Boss A.G. Now it is the largest European and world manufacturer of classic clothing intended for men. A women's suit from Hugo Boss will be released in 1998.

Therefore, in 1993, the company was placed under the management of the Italian group of companies Marzotto (now Valentino Fashion Group). The Hawley brothers were replaced by Peter Littman, who did some rebranding. Now the Hugo Boss brand is represented by trademarks aimed at different target audiences:

  • Boss. Respectable classic wardrobe.
  • Hugo. Bold, extravagant youth clothing.
  • Baldessarini. Luxury brand.

Peter Littman turned out to be a believer in social competence. In 1996, the Hugo Boss Award was approved for success and achievements in art. A year later, management admitted Hugo Boss's complicity with the Nazis and pledged to pay compensation to everyone who worked in captivity at their grandfather's production. This step was appreciated in the international community: the Hugo Boss brand began to be linked with Nazism much less frequently. But in 2000 there will again be those who will again present to their descendants the sins of their grandfather. Hugo Boss A.G. join the public organization “Memory, Responsibility, Future” and allocate 500,000 pounds sterling to compensate for labor and moral damage of former forced laborers.

2000s: triumph and globalization

At the beginning of the new century, the assortment policy of Hugo Boss A.G. expands its horizons. Since 2000, the traditionally masculine brand has begun feminization: the first serious collection for women was released.

In 2002, little fashionistas will begin to wear the brand, because the Hugo Boss children's line will quickly fit into the needs and fashion trends for children.

In 2004, the brand will conquer the classic trendsetter - France. Of course, it will be Paris, of course, the Champs Elysees. Here, at number 115, a huge mono-brand boutique will open.

In 2005, the Boss Skin line was launched - cosmetics for the stronger sex. In addition, a license was obtained to produce personalized glasses.

The year 2006 was marked by the brand's first collaboration with Jamiroquai band leader Jay Kay. The JK for Hugo collection consists primarily of biker jackets and gloves and jersey clothing.

In 2007, Werner Baldessarini bought out the brand of the same name, and replaced it on the fashion catwalk with a pre-developed alternative line, Boss Selection.

In 2008, Hugo Boss A.G received the licensing right to produce women's jewelry in partnership with the Swarovski brand.

In 2009, the company decided to release an elite model of the Samsung Hugo Boss phone.

Hugo Boss of the XXI century

On the global fashion catwalk Hugo Boss A.G. presented today by two brands: HUGO and BOSS. Perfume, accessory lines and the richest collections of clothing are created and produced under each of them. Each series has its own adherents, its own target audience.

  1. Black Label. These are premium items for professional and work activities, for formal and informal dates. Men's, women's, children's lines.
  2. Selection. Luxury models and accessories for men.
  3. Green. Sportswear for men and women, accessories.
  4. Orange. The same directions, but casual with an emphasis on practicality.
  5. HUGO: Avant-garde women's and men's clothing, accessories. The brand is aimed at a progressive attitude towards fashion.
  6. Hugo Boss perfume. Hugo Boss produces its fragrance products in close alliance with Procter & Gamble. The brand's first men's perfume is Hugo Boss No. 1 (1985). Today there are more than 40 original fragrances from Hugo Boss. Hugo Boss perfumes are included in the top rankings of world-famous perfumery products.

Today, a Hugo Boss item is the standard of style, the height of elegance, success and self-respect. The brand's clothing looks great in any setting - from a social event to a visit to a palace. For each outfit you can choose perfectly matching shoes and brand accessories. Because the designers of this Fashion House offer understandable, but at the same time cool things that are not just comfortable, but also look incredibly stylish.