Early years After the end of the
First World War,
Hugo Ferdinand Boss (1885–1948) took over his parents' clothing retail business in Metzingen, where it still operates, and registered it as a business for manufactured goods in 1922. In 1924, he started a factory for the production of workwear along with two partners, Albert and Theodor Bräuchle, as shareholders. The company produced shirts, jackets, work clothing, sportswear, and raincoats. In 1925 and 1926, Hugo Boss, like all Metzingen companies, announced
Kurzarbeit for its almost 30 employees. In connection with the global economic crisis following the
New York stock market crash of 1929, the company had to reduce its workforce by almost a quarter and file for
bankruptcy in 1931. In the same year, Hugo Ferdinand Boss reached an agreement with his creditors, leaving him with six
sewing machines to start again.
Manufacturing for the Nazi Party In 1931, Hugo Ferdinand Boss became a member of the
Nazi Party, receiving the membership number 508 889, and a sponsoring member ("Förderndes Mitglied") of the
Schutzstaffel (SS). He also joined the
German Labour Front in 1936, the
Reich Air Protection Association in 1939, and the
National Socialist People's Welfare in 1941. He was also a member of the Reichskriegerbund and the Reichsbund for physical exercises. After joining these organizations, he received orders for the production of clothing for the Nazi Party and its organizations, which helped Hugo Ferdinand Boss to stabilize the company again and his sales increased from ($26,993 U.S. dollars in 1932) to over in 1941. The factory was "one of numerous smaller manufacturing companies involved in uniform production". 1924 is also the year the company became a
Reichszeugmeisterei-licensed supplier of uniforms to the
Sturmabteilung (SA),
Schutzstaffel (SS),
Wehrmacht,
Hitler Youth,
National Socialist Motor Corps, and other party organizations. By the third quarter of 1932, the all-black
SS uniform was designed by SS members
Karl Diebitsch (artist) and
Walter Heck (graphic designer). The Hugo Boss company was one of the companies that produced these black uniforms for the SS. By 1938, the firm was focused on producing
Wehrmacht uniforms and later also uniforms for the
Waffen-SS. During the
Second World War, besides its 300 employees, Hugo Boss employed 140 forced laborers, the majority of them women from the
Soviet Union and
Poland. In addition to these workers, 40 French prisoners of war also worked for the company briefly between October 1940 – April 1941. According to German historian Henning Kober, the company managers were fervent Nazis who were all great admirers of
Adolf Hitler. In 1945, Hugo Ferdinand Boss had a photograph in his apartment of him with Hitler, taken at
Berghof, Hitler's
Obersalzberg retreat. Because of his early Nazi Party membership, his financial support of the SS, and the uniforms delivered to the Nazi party, Hugo Ferdinand Boss was
considered both an "activist" and a "supporter and beneficiary of National Socialism". In a 1946 judgment, he was stripped of his voting rights, his capacity to run a business, and fined "a very heavy penalty" of ($70,553 U.S.) (£54,008
stg), which was later decreased to .
Post-war and development into a fashion company Hugo Ferdinand Boss died in 1948, but his business survived. His son Siegfried Boss and his son-in-law Eugen Holy took over ownership and management of the company. Production initially focused on uniforms for the
French army and the
French Red Cross, then on uniforms for the
post office,
railroads and
police. In 1950, the company received its first order for
men's suits, resulting in an expansion to 150 employees by the end of the year. Hugo Boss men's suits first appeared on the market in 1953. By 1960, the company was producing ready-made suits. In 1967, Eugen retired, leaving the company to his sons Jochen and Uwe, who began international development. In 1970, the first
Boss branded suits were produced and in 1972, the Holy brothers opened the first factory outlet in a nearby warehouse, which later became the
Outletcity Metzingen. In 1975, the Austrian designer
Werner Baldessarini was hired and eventually became head designer. The
Boss brand was registered as a trademark in 1977. This was followed by the start of the company's long association with motorsport, sponsoring
Formula One teams. In 1984, the first
Boss branded fragrance appeared. This helped the company gain the required growth for listing on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange the following year. The brand began a golf sponsorship for
Bernhard Langer in 1986 and tennis for the
Davis Cup in 1987. In 1989,
Boss launched its first licensed
sunglasses. Later that year, the company was bought by a Japanese group. After the
Marzotto textile group acquired a 77.5% stake for $165,000,000 in 1991, the
Hugo,
Boss and
Baldessarini brands were introduced in 1993. In the same year, the Holy-brothers left the company and Peter Littmann became the new Chairman of the Management Board. In 1995, the company launched its footwear range, the first in a now fully developed leather products range, across all sub-brands. A partnership with the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was launched in 1995, resulting in the
Hugo Boss Prize. In 1997, Littmann left the company after differences of opinion with the Marzotto Group and Baldessarini was appointed CEO in 1998. Since then, multiple fragrances and skincare ranges have been launched. In January 1999, Hugo Boss launched its first website. Also in 1999, the
Boss Orange brand was launched as a separate line for casual wear, followed by
Boss Selection (2004) and
Boss Green, which emerged from
Boss Golf in 2004. 2000 saw the launch of
Boss Woman, a product line initially managed by German fashion designer Grit Seymour in
Milan, which has since also been presented at
Berlin Fashion Week and
New York Fashion Week. In 2002, the company was repositioned with a design team at the Metzingen site. The
Baldessarini brand was sold to Werner Baldessarini in 2006 and replaced in the
Boss range by the
Boss Selection collection.
Boss Selection was expanded in 2009 to include
Boss Selection Tailored Line, but was integrated into the core
Boss brand in mid-2012.
Recent history and rise to an international fashion group , Australia In 2002, Baldessarini left the company and Bruno Sälzer took over the position of CEO. Under his leadership, Hugo Boss was transformed into a lifestyle group, the women's line was repositioned, and international expansion was driven forward, particularly in the Asian markets. In 2005,
Marzotto spun off its
fashion brands into the
Valentino Fashion Group. In 2007, Valentino was acquired by financial investor
Permira for , which subsequently exerted a significant influence on the Hugo Boss company. Sälzer left the company in February 2008. In mid-2008, Permira appointed Claus-Dietrich Lahrs as CEO of Hugo Boss. Shortly afterward, the company launched an online shop in the UK, followed by other countries. In 2009, the
Boss brand was by far the largest segment, consisting of 68% of all sales. The remainder of sales were made up by
Boss Orange at 17%,
Boss Selection at 3%,
Boss Green at 3% and
Hugo at 9%. Also in 2009, Hugo Boss was carved out of the Valentino Fashion Group; from then on, the Hugo Boss stake was held by Permira via its Red & Black Holding. In 2010, the company had sales of $2,345,850,000 and a net profit of $262,183,000, with royalties of 42% of total
net profit. The collaboration ended in 2018. In March 2015, Permira announced plans to sell the remaining shares of 12%. Since the exit of Permira, 91% of the shares have been floating on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the residual 2% have been held by the company. 15% of the shares are owned by the Marzotto family. Lahrs left the Group in 2016 and the former CFO Mark Langer was appointed as the new CEO in mid-May. In 2017, Hugo Boss was also included in the
Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the first time. In the same year, the sales of Hugo Boss climbed by 7% during the final quarter of the year. In 2020,
Mike Ashley's British
Frasers Group acquired a stake of around 5% in Hugo Boss. This stake was reduced to 2.63% by February 2023, but Ashley has access to a further 24.69% via
financial instruments. In June 2021,
Daniel Grieder took over as CEO of Hugo Boss. In the same year, Daniel Grieder set the goal of achieving a revenue of 4 billion euros by 2025. In 2022, Marco Falcioni was appointed Creative Director. The same year, Hugo Boss invested in the
start-up Heiq Aeoniq LLC, which is developing the cellulose fabric Heiq Aeoniq. In 2023, the fiber was first used in the company's textiles. In order to meet increased demands, the Group invested 100 million euros in a new distribution building at the
Bonlanden-Filderstadt site near
Stuttgart in the same year. The investments were in digitalization and automation, and robotics applications. In June 2023, Hugo Boss opened the
Hugo Boss Digital Campus in
Gondomar, Portugal. In December 2024, the Frasers Group increased its stake of directly held shares in the company to 19.25%, after already announcing in a mandatory filing in August that it had raised its share to more than 15%. == Fundamentals ==