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Fashion, money and racism
Category: uk Dated: 05/10/2004
The British cap retailers, Capitate.co.uk have withdrawn all Von Dutch caps from their website, and are offering to refund customers who send the hats back to them.
The British cap retailers, Capitate.co.uk have withdrawn all Von Dutch caps from their website, and are offering to refund customers who send the hats back to them.
The decision was made after an article appeared in the Orange County Weekly, alleging that Kenneth Howard, the man behind the Von Dutch label was a Nazi sympathiser.
Capitate’s spokesman, Ian Spencer said, “The stories coming out are pretty shocking. Von Dutch was certainly one of our most sought after styles. We appreciate that the Von Dutch racism reports are alleged, but nevertheless, we feel that giving our customers this option is the right thing to do.”
A one-time friend of Mr Howard, Robert Williams described what he was like to the Orange County Weekly, “He was quite a racist; didn’t like anybody. He had all the trappings of a neo-Nazi. He could not tolerate black people”.
Kenneth Howard died in 1992 at the age of 63, and while some may argue that withdrawing a line of clothing based on the personal views of a dead designer don’t matter much, others strongly disagree.
Opinions
Left to right, Venicia, Dee-Dee and Dina. These young ladies are concerned about implied meanings behind designer labels.
By making his clothing and getting people to wear it then obviously he’s trying to spread a message without saying anything. He hasn’t opened his mouth verbally, but he is saying something.
Venicia, London College of Fashion Student
Black Britain went for a bit of a stroll down Oxford Street in London, and spoke to some fashion conscious youngsters, to find out whether they had any concerns about the moral beliefs of the designers behind the clothes they like to wear.
The results of our mini-survey reveal an interesting split; the young men weren’t very concerned about fashion and moral issues, whereas the young ladies were very concerned. Does this mean that men need to look a little more beyond the label itself to what’s behind it?
This is what some of them had to say,
“I’m not too bothered about it, as long as what I’m wearing looks good; I’m not too bothered about the history or moral beliefs of anything really.” - Dan, Westminster College Student
“If I like a certain design it’s because I like it regardless of the designer or stuff like that really.” - Daniel, Graphic Designer
“I am concerned, I don’t like the fact that you can buy a garment and it has racial connotations behind it because it is something that he’s trying to state. By making his clothing and getting people to wear it then obviously he’s trying to spread a message without saying anything. He hasn’t opened his mouth verbally, but he is saying something.” - Venicia, London College of Fashion Student
“The way I see it, with a lot of these stylists, black people buy most of their clothes, you make most of your money off black people.” - Dee-Dee, London College of Fashion Student
This sentiment of the need to become more aware of where your money goes is shared by Simon Woolley from Operation Black Vote. He said that it is imperative that black youngsters take more of an interest in these kinds of issues, because the black community’s spending power amounts to £32 billion annually, a high level of influence if used properly.
He said, “With the amount of disposable money that our youngsters have, they need to be acutely aware of where their money goes and what that brand means.”
While a particular label may have no racist connotation in itself, if the designer behind it holds these views, then wearers of the clothes are in effect implicit carriers of his or her message.
So, will you be binning your Von Dutch?
Black Britain
