Hugo Boss Information & Hugo Boss Links at HealthHaven.com

Hugo Boss AG
Type	Public (Xetra: BOS3)
Founded	1924
Headquarters	Metzingen, Germany
Key people	Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, CEO; Dr. Hellmut Albrecht, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Industry	Consumer Goods
Products	Textile - Apparel clothing
Revenue	€ 1.686 billion (2008)
Employees	9,500 (2008)
Parent	Valentino Fashion Group
Website	www.hugoboss.com

Hugo Boss AG is a fashion and lifestyle house based in Metzingen, Germany, that specializes in high-end mens- and womenswear apparel. It is named after its founder, Hugo Ferdinand Boss (1885–1948).

[edit] Today

Today Hugo Boss is represented worldwide by more than 6,100 POS (points of sale) in 110 countries. About 330 retail stores are owned by the Hugo Boss AG and over 1,000 stores and shops by franchisees.

One has to differentiate between the two core brands Boss with various lines and Hugo:

Boss Black Menswear launched in the early seventies/ Womenswear launched in 2000

Boss Orange Menswear launched in 1999/ Womenswear launched in 2005

Boss Selection Menswear launched in 2003

Boss Green Menswear relaunched in 2003

Hugo Menswear launched in 1993/ Womenswear launched in 1998

The main line Boss Black has fashion ranges for business and events. Boss Orange mainly offers fashion for leisure time. Boss Selection is the premium label and offers sophisticated design. Boss Green is the golf-oriented sport collection and Hugo the trendsetting line with avant-garde styles.

Additionally Hugo Boss offers licensed products such as fragrances, cosmetics, watches and eyewear. Since 2008 Hugo Boss also has a cooperation with Samsung Electronics and developed cell phones and accessories. Today Hugo Boss even launched a children’s fashion collection under the Boss brand; produced and sold by a license partner.^[1]

[edit] History

Hugo Boss started his clothing company in 1924 in Metzingen, where it is still based, a small town south of Stuttgart, Germany. However, due to the economic climate in Germany at the time Boss was forced into bankruptcy in 1930. Undeterred, Hugo set up a new business and in 1931 became a member of the Nazi party. With the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933, Boss's business also began to prosper as he became an RZM-licensed (official) supplier of uniforms to the SA, SS, Hitler Youth, NSKK and other Party organizations.

With the defeat of Germany in 1945, Boss was charged with being sympathetic to the Nazi cause and using forced labor, and was denied the right to vote in Germany and ordered to pay a fine. He died in 1948 but his business survived.

In 1985 the company was floated on the stock exchange and the majority shareholder is now the Marzotto textile group. In the same year Hugo Boss launched its first fragrance.

[edit] Involvement in World War II

The all-black uniform of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (the paramilitary force from 1925 until 1945) was designed by SS-Oberführer Prof. Dr. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer Walter Heck.^[2] From 1933, the Hugo Boss company was one of the firms that produced these black uniforms along with the brown SA shirts and the black-and-brown uniforms of the Hitler Youth.^[3]^[4] Some workers are acknowledged to have been prisoners of war forced into labor.^[5]^[6]

[edit] See also

Hugo Boss Prize

[edit] References

^ Hugo Boss Annual Report 2008
^ Lumsden, Robin. A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine - SS, Ian Allan Publishing, Inc. 2001, p 53.
^ "Hugo Boss Acknowledges Link to Nazi Regime". The New York Times. 1997-08-15. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E4DF153FF936A2575BC0A961958260. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
^ White, Constance C. R. "Patterns: Dealing with Hugo Boss's Nazi tie." The New York Times 19 August 1997: A20.
^ Givhan, Robin (1997-08-15). "Clothier Made Nazi Uniforms". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1997/aug/15/news/ls-22533. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ Zwangsarbeit in Metzingen (Forced Work in Metzingen)

[edit] External links

Companies portal

[0] Hugo Boss Annual Report 2008

[1] Lumsden, Robin. A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine - SS, Ian Allan Publishing, Inc. 2001, p 53.

[2] "Hugo Boss Acknowledges Link to Nazi Regime". The New York Times. 1997-08-15. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E4DF153FF936A2575BC0A961958260. Retrieved 2008-09-25.

[3] White, Constance C. R. "Patterns: Dealing with Hugo Boss's Nazi tie." The New York Times 19 August 1997: A20.

[4] Givhan, Robin (1997-08-15). "Clothier Made Nazi Uniforms". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1997/aug/15/news/ls-22533. Retrieved 2008-11-08.

[5] Zwangsarbeit in Metzingen (Forced Work in Metzingen)

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