Hugo brand of luxury clothing 4 letters. Brand history: Hugo Boss

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;

Hugo Boss (Russian: Hugo Boss) is a German company, a manufacturer of fashionable clothing. The brand was founded in Germany in 1923. The main shareholder of the company is the Italian Valentino Fashion Group, it owns 50.9% of the shares.

Brand Hugo Boss

About company

Hugo Boss is a popular German company that produces clothes mainly in a classic style. This is necessarily a strict image and clear lines, because the main clients are executives, politicians and entrepreneurs who need clothes that represent the status of its owner. In addition, the luxury perfumes and accessories produced by the brand are successful. But the company has been achieving this success for almost 100 years, starting with the production of protective clothing and soldier uniforms.

Brand history

The history of the company goes back to 1923, when Hugo Boss opened a workwear tailoring shop in Metzingen (Germany) where his family worked. The atelier grows into a small factory, but the enterprise cannot survive the crisis, and Hugo Boss joins the Nazi party and receives large orders for sewing uniforms for military personnel. Its factories employ prisoners of war. But after the end of the war, the entrepreneur was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and imposed a huge fine.

Hugo Boss died in 1948 and his children and grandchildren took control of the company and turned the company towards the world of high fashion, gradually turning the brand into a global brand. A perfume line is launched. The Fashion House is founded.

In 1993, the company was bought by Valentino Fashion Group. Global changes in the brand structure are taking place. There are lines designed for different target audiences. These include the timeless classic “Black Lable” for young men, the youth trend “Orange Lable” for a casual weekend, and luxury clothing “Baldessarini” – elegant, expensive clothing for the financial and political elite.

In 2000, a women's business line and a casual line were launched, and later a children's line. A large project of luxury accessories is entering the market. These are luxury eyewear, watch production in cooperation with a Swiss company, men's cosmetics, women's jewelry, together with the company.

In 2009, the company begins producing a mobile phone Samsung.
Hugo Boss brand products is an indicator of the excellent taste and elegance of its owner. The company is actively engaged in social activities; this name has become a lifestyle, a symbol of well-being. Therefore, it is not surprising that the company currently generates revenues of about $1.5 billion. The number of employees working in the company exceeded 9,000 people.

Only expensive materials are used to sew clothing models, because they are made in the highest-rated factories in the world. The leather for products from the “Boss Hugo Boss” line is tanned only in Germany and England from lambs raised in Alpine meadows and passed the most meticulous test to ensure that there is no fat under the skin.

Facts about the company

• Every year the company produces 200 tuxedos for the Oscars.
• Since 1995, Hugo Boss has sponsored a network of Guggenheim museums in different cities and countries.
• Provides sponsorship support for Formula 1 and golf competitions. Helps other elite sports.
• The main shareholder of the company is Valentino Fashion Group.
• Chief Executive Officer - Bruno Selzer.
• Products are presented in 120 countries in more than 6,000 stores.

In 1923, Hugo Boss founded the company in the small German city of Metzingen. In the 1920s, he created overalls, protective clothing, raincoats and uniforms for soldiers and workers, sometimes without even indicating his name, and the suits that made the brand famous only began to be produced in 1953, a few years after the death of Hugo himself.

In the following decades the company experienced ups and downs, and it was only in the 1970s that Uwe and Johan Holy, now Hugo's grandchildren, were able to put the business on a secure footing. It was they who approved the name of their grandfather 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 authority in the international arena and increase sales volumes.

Hugo Boss

A successful and decisive PR move for Hugo Boss was the creation of clothing for the film Rocky 4 starring Sylvester Stallone. Later, the Hugo Boss brand used this move again and provided clothing to the heroes of the popular American TV series Miami Vice.

Today, the German company Hugo Boss is one of the most influential in the fashion world and has an annual turnover of about one and a half billion dollars a year.

As part of the extensive HUGO BOSS sales network, which includes 250 BOSS brand stores, the brand is represented in more than 100 countries. Thanks to HUGO BOSS's active work in various fields, this name has become a symbol of well-being, a modern perception of life, and a lifestyle.

Every year the company provides about 200 tuxedos for the Academy Awards ceremony. World-famous Hollywood stars prefer HUGO BOSS to other men's clothing brands. Regular clients of the Boss Hugo Boss brand are the most famous men in the world, such as Antonio Banderas, John Travolta, Brad Pitt, etc.

Since 1995, HUGO BOSS has been an active supporter of the renowned Guggenheim network of contemporary art museums in 4 cities around the world.

Formula 1 fans and golf fans are probably aware that HUGO BOSS is one of the sponsors of these elite sports competitions. Leading Formula 1 drivers Michael Schumacher, Miko Hakkinen and David Coulthard, famous tennis players Stefan Edberg and Thomas Muster, as well as one of the world's most famous golfers Phil Michelsen make up the majority of their wardrobe from HUGO BOSS models.

From a menswear brand once associated with classic, perfectly cut suits, BOSS HUGO BOSS has transformed into an upscale clothing brand that harmoniously combines traditional classics with leisure and social wear.

The Hugo Boss man is active, focused and success-oriented; in addition, he is also self-confident, impeccable in taste, and keeps up with the times.

Black main label - BOSS brand HUGO BOSS for successful businessmen, top managers, politicians.

Hugo HUGO BOSS is a red label for advanced informal youth.

And the Baldessarini HUGO BOSS brand is for sophisticated clients; the clothes of this brand are sewn by hand.

The orange label of the brand "Boss Sport Hugo Boss" is presented for people who love an active lifestyle.

All these brands make HUGO BOSS a trendsetter in the international arena. All clothing models are made exclusively from expensive materials, since 80% of the materials for Hugo Boss are made by the most famous weaving factories.

The leather for the branded "Boss Hugo Boss" jackets is made only in England and Germany. At the same time, lambs are specially raised in Alpine meadows, after which only those animals are selected that have the least amount of fat under their skin - this contributes to further elasticity of the skin. One long jacket requires 4 to 6 lambs!

To ensure an appropriate presentation of its products, HUGO BOSS sells them exclusively in carefully selected exclusive stores as well as BOSS brand stores. Quality and design, innovation and creativity are the driving elements of the company.

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.

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.