subject: Brand History: Hugo Boss [print this page] Brand History: Hugo Boss Brand History: Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss is one of the fashion world's biggest names and among its most venerable. It opened for business in the town of Metzingen in far-off 1923, though the original Hugo was less interested in the double-breasted power suit than in boiler suits for working men.
It was his grandchildren, Uwe and Jochen Holy, who started the company on its ride to menswear respectability and riches, developing through the 1960s a line of suits that were everything German suits of the time were not: youthful, lightweight and style-wise on the cutting edge.
Through changes of ownership and innumerable brand extensions, the basic DNA of Hugo Boss has changed not a whit, and that goes for its watch collection as much as any other part of the range.
Though it has a women's line, and women's watches for that matter, this remains very much a brand for men, and a particular kind of man; clean-cut, forceful, even, whisper it softly, a little bit macho. Weren't the Miami Vice lads among its earliest product endorsers, after all.
Watches, with design and distribution licensed to Movado, figure in the three of the company's numerous collections. Boss Black includes classic watches with a twist: stainless steel or rose gold cases; numerous small dials - featuring everything from a battery meter to an opening into the movement - on a silver or black face that often has a piano-wire or sun-ray pattern. The women's range here is less daring, focussing on simple elegance enlivened with a colourful strap or an interesting case Boss Orange is more youthful and sporty, particularly on the men's side. The collection includes chronographs with a tachymeter function, and a range of style influences from diver to aviator to military.
The Boss Selection is, reasonably enough, the most select watch produced by Hugo, a 300-item limited edition with a black dial, a date aperture at 4 o'clock, a small dial opening on the dial and a full sapphire glass on the back so you can see exactly what you're getting. As fashion watches go, it's quite a lot.
