Hugo Boss

Hugo Boss

Hugo Boss AG is a German fashion and lifestyle house based in Metzingen that specializes in high-end mens- and womenswear. It is named after its founder, Hugo Ferdinand Boss (1885–1948).Hugo Boss started his clothing company in 1924 in Metzingen, where it is still based, a small town south of Stuttgart. 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.