The Disturbing Story Of Hugo Boss

we've all got Secrets but some secrets are much darker than others Hugo Boss is a fashion brand associated with wealth elegance and status and is worn by countless prominent celebrities but this Fashion Icon has done all it can to hide its dark past from the public eye this is the story of how Hugo Boss supported Hitler made the uniforms for the Nazis and yet somehow cleansed its image and built a global fashion Empire [Music] Hugo Boss was born in Germany in 1885 in a town known for its textile industry in fact Hugo's parents owned a

modest lingerie shop and thus Hugo himself developed an interest in fashion from an early age as a teen he took jobs that would help him understand the ins and outs of the industry he initially began an apprenticeship as a Merchant then worked in a textile mill before eventually taking over his parents lingerie shop however soon after World War I broke out Hugo took the opportunity to serve his country and whilst Hugo survived the war he returned with a new vision of what he wanted to do with his life rather than running his parents small shop

he wanted to create his own fashion company and thus he transformed the shop into a tailor that he named after himself since Hugo had been gaining experience from such a young age it only took him a couple of years before he was able to turn his shot shop into a whole Factory and he began selling his own brand of jackets shirts work wear sports wear and raincoats his previous apprenticeship had made Hugo a great salesman and before long the company's clothing became fairly well known around Germany however one of the consequences of World War I

was that Germany had been ordered to pay the winning countries a huge amount of money in reparations the debt was set at 132 billion gold marks the equivalent of about $270 billion US in today's currency this began to tripple the German economy and set the stage for an extremely tough and grueling era as the US UK and France enjoyed extravagant spending on behalf of Germany's debt a Time known in America as the Roaring 20s Germany struggled to pay off the war while having enough to support their own country as a result German citizens saw High

inflation and business closures and therefore even though Hugo boss's clothing had been pretty popular his company began to suffer no amount of good reputation could help the fact that people were struggling to afford his work and then the Great depression only made Germany's Bleak economic situation even worse food became scarce jobs were nowhere to be found and some families even burnt their money to provide heat during the harsh Winters in an effort to try and save his business Hugo began making uniforms for the German police and other government officials unfortunately this was not enough and

Hugo was forced to lay off most of his Workforce and shut down his Factory eventually he filed for bankruptcy and all Hugo was left with was six sewing machines it seemed like the Hugo Boss clothing brand would be nothing but a short-lived dream Germany was in a desperate situation and they were willing to seek help from anyone it was during this time that Adolf Hitler Rose to power but for Hugo Boss he saw this as an opportunity he knew that those close to the Nazi party were eligible for government contracts and thus he became a

proud supporter of the Nazis and an active member of the Nazi party from 1931 onward Hugo made connections with high ranking members within the party and he knew this would make him a prime candidate to produce the newly designed Nazi uniforms and it worked Hugo managed to build connections with them and eventually won a contract to begin producing their uniforms so with only six sewing machines Hugo got to work and at first this was just making the Nazi uniforms for example one of his first big contracts was to supply Brown Shirts to the Nazis but

as the party grew into power they required more uniforms for example for soldiers the police and the Hitler Youth and Hugo's connections to the Nazis meant he was manufacturing uniforms for all of these of course to meet the growing demand six sewing machines wasn't enough he needed lots more equipment and employees so hugoboss took out loans to expand his company so he could grow his tailoring operation and create all the different uniforms and outfits the Nazis needed and from a financial perspective Hugo boss's allegiance to Hitler paid off massively he was making way more money

than his business ever had before and as Hitler began his conquest of Europe Hugo Boss was soon given help through the use of French and polish Force laborers so Hugo Boss has slave laborers working in his Factory producing uniforms for the Nazi party and the SS unlike some German business owners at the time Hugo did at least allow his new slave workers to eat in the canteen rather than the work camps and he reportedly made sure they were always fed but on the flip side it's also reported these workers lived in extremely poor conditions and

that Hugo would threaten to send them to concentration camps if they fell behind on their work now as for Hugo boss's personal beliefs it's clear that him so publicly being an active member of the Nazi party was partially a strategic decision remember before Hitler Rose the power and Hugo built an alliance with the Nazis to win those contracts Hugo's business had collapsed and he was in a terrible financial situation with very little hopes of any success however a researcher who wrote a book on Hugo Boss concluded it is clear that Hugo F boss did not

only join the party because it led to contracts for uniform production but also because he was a follower of national socialism and a loyal Nazi it's reported that in his apartment he even proudly hang a photo of himself with Hitler so whilst he may have partially got involved with them to save his business he seemingly would have supported them regardless thankfully though when the war finally ended and the Nazis were defeated Hugo Boss was investigated and because Hugo Boss was found to be an activist and financial beneficiary of the Nazi party he was banned from

owning a business just a couple of years later in 1948 Hugo Boss died and so you would think the company bearing his name would die along with him but of course we all know that's not the case in present day Hugo Boss is a multi-billion dollar clothing Empire so what [Music] happened hey guys before we get to the next part of the story I just want to say that if you find these videos interesting please consider turning on notifications for magnates media I'm working on some even bigger projects right now so if you want to

make sure you see them when they're ready just hit the notification Bell now also I just want to say a massive thank you for watching this channel these videos do take a long while to make so honestly I really appreciate all your comments and support So yeah thank you for everything and now let's get back to the story [Music] after Hugo boss's death what very little was left of the company went to his son-in-law euan hoi who kept the business going by producing uniforms for the police and postal workers although the sale of uniforms kept

the business afloat the Hugo Boss brand became a shell of its former self as of course they no longer had those lucrative Nazi contracts it wasn't until the early 1950s that the Hugo Boss company was tested with producing an order of Suits this was the major turning point for the business the suits they created seemed very popular and yugan realized there could be an opportunity here to Rebrand the company and distance it from its dark past so he began taking more suit orders and to try and build a good reputation yugan ensured the suits were

elegant and made with very high quality materials although this was expensive Yan's decision to make high-profile suits paid off because the Hugo Boss brand moved from being just a uniform brand to a true German fashion tailor and thus Hugo Boss quickly became a popular brand for men in Germany wanting stylist suits under the management of Hugo son in- law Hugo Boss became a bigger business than it had been back when the original founder Hugo had been running it as a tailoring business of course the company tried their best to keep their original Founders political views

and activism as private as they could as they knew it would be disastrous PR if everyone knew the truth but it was a constant ongoing battle to try and distance themselves from their founder and how much money he'd made from supporting Hitler however in 1969 Yan retired and handed the business off to his two sons meaning the company was now in its third generation of ownership ship and these two brothers were even more ambitious than their father they were determined to make the company into a global fashion [Music] icon the two brothers who took over

the company from their father started marketing Hugo Boss as a men's only designer brand specifically focused on premium suits while selling such a small variety of clothing might seem like a limitation it actually allowed them to focus on the quality of their products and become great at Men's Suits rather than just being average at lots of different things as a result their products quickly got a very good reputation you see at the time German suits tended to be made with only German materials which were known to be a little stiff and heavy whereas the two

brothers decided to break the German tradition and begin making suits with Italian materials that were softer and lighter they also modernized their factories and hired more workers to increase their output the changes made by the two brothers fulfilled their father's dream of Hugo Boss No Longer being associated with Nazi Germany but rather with post-war German Excellence the brothers also did something that was uncommon at the time which was manufacturing abroad today that practice is used by nearly every big business but for a proud German company to Outsource its production was relatively unheard of at the

time not just that but since the company had now deviated so much from its original starting point of making uniforms and fairly lowcost workware the brothers felt they needed a Rebrand and thus began marketing the brand simply as boss and everything seemed to be going great for the company under the ownership of these two brothers their suits were selling really well in Germany and so the brothers decided it was time to expand even further they wanted to go Global and start selling in countries all over the world but they knew to become a world recognized

fashion house they needed to invest heavily in marketing a good decision the brothers made was to spend heavily on endorsement deals where they'd have the boss branding plastered on race cars used by the era's greatest drivers this immediately helped them become more recognizable outside Germany and it led to the first boss suit being sold in the United States in 1976 they also paid big money to get endorsement deals from some of the biggest stars of the time for example they got Sylvester Stallone to model their suits and become the poster boy for the boss brand

and their timing was perfect because in the 1980s the yepy movement began where more and more people were aspiring to be CEOs and entrepreneurs and having a stylish suit was a classic part of that look with their premium materials and the extensive ad campaigns and endorsement deals boss suits became heavily in demand and so even though they focused primarily on just men's suits to begin with this alone was extremely profitable but once they' cemented their place as a popular suit brand in many countries eventually the brothers realized they could make a lot more money by

expanding into more product lines and thus in 1985 they began offering their male customers a lot more like they came up with the idea to sell the own fragrances beginning with the boss number one for men this single cologne would be one of boss's most profitable products and was the start of their now vast fragrance business shortly after this the company was listed on the German Stock Exchange and within just a year Hugo Boss was worth more than the rest of the Germans Men's Wear man manufacturers combined however despite the brothers achieving so much success

with the company they were also exhausted and wanted to focus on something different after devoting so much of their time to this business so in 1989 they sold the majority of their shares to a Japanese company named Leon house group the brothers still had some say in the company for a little while but they were no longer in charge of distribution sales and the day-to-day management and it soon began to seem like they cashed out their shares at just the right moment before we get get to the next chapter I want to tell you about

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look no further than IFL watches and with the holidays coming up they'd also make a perfect gift for someone else so just click the link in the description below to check them out today that's IFL watches by clicking the top Link in the description below now [Music] the incredible success of Hugo Boss would eventually end once again because of economic instability the yepy era died out an economic turmoil in many of Hugo boss's biggest markets like Germany and the United States made high-end fashion much less attainable for most people in 1993 Hugo Boss stock traded

at less than half the price that the brothers had sold their shares for Just 4 years earlier and as sales continued to fall drastically the new owners knew they had to act fast to save the company firstly they split the brand into three the boss brand would continue selling high-end suits but they also created the Bal Des serini brand named after Hugo boss's chief designer to act as Hugo boss's exclusive fashion wing and finally a new brand called Hugo aimed at younger customers they also offered some cheaper products to ensure people could still afford their

clothing despite the economic situation the company also tried to distance itself from its overly masculine reputation and very soon began selling clothes and fragrances for women as well and all of these changes combined did indeed seemed to help the company attract new customers and throughout the late ' 90s profits increased substantially in 1997 though when the CEO Peter Litman left the company Hugo Boss then went through a string of different CEOs who unsuccessfully tried to pick up where Litman left off eventually it was Hugo boss' chief designer Bal Des serini who stepped up and took

the position himself he'd been reluctant to take the job at first seeing how several CEOs had tried and failed already but he eventually took the job and he was the one who decided that Hugo Boss should Branch out even further thus Hugo Boss began selling sportsare casual clothing underwear and even accessories like sunglasses he also knew the impact that Fame had on the brand and began working with the film industry to provide boss branded wardrobe items for some of the highest grossing films of the '90s and early 2000s Hugo Boss also got back into modeling

releasing advertisements with some of the most famous models and celebrities of the time all of these decisions saw the brand cement its Global success in the fashion industry and of course Hugo Boss remains one of the largest and most successful fashion brands to this day with their products being sold in over 9 20 countries all over the world it's clear that Hugo Boss has come a long way from being a small German tailor shop to a leader in the fashion industry and their brand still carries a reputation of wealth and impeccable design and celebrities continue

to model for the brand most recently Chris Hemsworth has taken over Sylvester Stallone's former position as the face of Hugo Boss however not all of Hugo boss's coverage from celebrities has been positive [Music] in 2013 Russell Brand received an award from GQ at an event which was sponsored by Hugo Boss and this is what he said any of you uh that have know a little bit about history and fashion will know that Hugo Boss made the uniforms for the Nazis like and the Nazis did have flawers but you know they did look fantastic let's face

it however whilst Hugo Boss still continues to face some scrutiny for their past the brand has been active in trying to write some of their wrongs in 1999 Hugo Boss created a fund to repay their slave laborers for their work and traumatic experiences and in 2011 for the first time in the Brand's history Hugo Boss publicly apologized they issued a statement saying they expressed profound regret to those who suffered harm or hardship at the factory run by Hugo Boss under National Socialist role Hugo Boss now Prides itself in being involved with Charities that focus on

education and support in developing regions so that raises the question since the original founder is long gone and the company is now owned by a completely different group who do genuinely seem to be trying to have a more positive impact does that mean the atrocities committed by the original founder should no longer affect the way we see the brand today after all it's a completely different business to what it was back then with very different values and management but on the other hand when the brand is literally named Hugo Boss It's perhaps not easy to

fully forget the true origins of the company however much more recently Hugo Boss started getting more negative breasts for a totally different reason when comedian Joe lyser legally changed his name to Hugo Boss the reason he did that was because the company Hugo Boss had sent cease and assist letters to several very small businesses who'd simply used the word boss in their product names for example there was a tiny local Brewery in Wales called boss Brewing that were forced to pay thousands in legal fees and rebranding costs simply because Hugo Boss threatened them with a

cease and assist Hugo Boss claimed some of their drink names like boss black infringed on fugo boss's trademark even though this was a tiny business in a totally different industry completely unre related to fashion or clothing so to draw attention to this trademark abuse over the use of the word boss Joe lyser tweeted it's clear that Hugo Boss hates people using their name unfortunately for them this week I legally Changed My Name by deed Paul and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss all future statements for me are not from joa but from Hugo

Boss now he really did change his name and this went extremely viral with headlines appearing about it everywhere and pretty soon people started trolling the company for example every time Hugo Boss tweeted there'd be replies like does Jo ler know you're using his name to to sell fragrances and of course the whole stunt brought more attention to the issue that a giant billion doll Corporation was threatening very small businesses for using the word boss in some of their products and then forcing them to spend money on rebrands eventually the company Hugo Boss released a statement

about all this saying we welcom the comedian formerly known as Joe lyser as a member of the Hugo Boss family and they then tried to explain they'd reached an agreement with the small companies they'd sent season assist letters to such as boss Brewing although that didn't change the fact that these small companies had had to pay out rebranding and legal fees which they could barely afford but what surprises me most is how many of the giant fashion brands we know today have such dark histories if you haven't yet seen the story of these companies here

honestly it's pretty shocking so go check them out now and I'll see you there in a second thanks for watching cheers