Politics and fashion have always been connected. A characteristic example is the fascist and Nazi movements of the 20th century.
In the 1920s in Italy, Benito Mussolini used black shirts, decorated with the ancient Roman symbol of the fasces*, to give strong symbolic character to his movement.
They became so recognizable that the members of his paramilitary organization took their name from them: the Blackshirts.
*A bundle of rods with an axe, a symbol of strength and authority.
Similarly, in Germany, the uniforms of the SS and the Hitler Youth were manufactured from the 1930s in the factory of designer Hugo Boss*, who was a member of the Nazi Party.
After Hitler’s election in 1938, the same factory also took over the production of uniforms for the armed forces, the Wehrmacht.
*In 2011, the company expressed “deep regret,” acknowledging that forced labor had been used at the factory.
The first far-right groups to use a “coded” dress code to recognize one another — and to be recognized by their political opponents — were far-right skinheads* in the UK in the 1970s.
One key way they distinguished themselves from anti-fascist skinheads was the color of the laces on their boots, which were white or red instead of yellow, for example, worn by anti-fascist skinheads.
*Key features of their style included shaved heads, Dr. Martens boots, and ties to the punk scene.
Neo-Nazis also used “coded” clothing in Germany in the 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when a rise in far-right movements was observed.
Because Nazi symbols were banned by law, neo-Nazis turned to a “coded” style of dress, adopting specific clothing brands such as New Balance and Lonsdale.
These particular brands were adopted because they contained “hidden” (i.e. not overtly incriminating) references to Nazi symbols.
The large “N” on New Balance sneakers was interpreted by neo-Nazis as an allusion to their ideology.
Similarly, members of neo-Nazi organizations would often wear jackets over Lonsdale T-shirts so that only the letters “NSDA” were visible, referring to the first four initials of the Nazi Party in German (NSDAP).
Sociologists explain that the far right has “appropriated” expensive brands worn by football ultras in the UK during the 1970s–1990s, such as Stone Island and Fred Perry, in a distorted attempt to identify with the values associated with hooligan culture.
Notably, well-known figures of the British far right, such as Tommy Robinson, appear wearing Stone Island jackets, while black Fred Perry clothing with yellow details was adopted by the far-right organization Proud Boys in the US.
They may not be able to choose their customers, but they can take a stand against the far right.
Fred Perry, for example, distanced itself and withdrew the clothing in those specific colors, while Lonsdale went a step further by funding anti-racist events, initiatives, and campaigns.
However, other brands, such as Stone Island, have not publicly taken a position on the issue to this day.
