Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by
far-right Proud Boys
Company distances itself from US fascist group as it
halts sales of garment in North America
Priya Elan
Mon 28 Sep
2020 15.31 BSTLast modified on Tue 29 Sep 2020 04.37 BST
The fashion
brand Fred Perry has pulled one of its famous polo shirt designs after it
became associated with a far-right organisation.
The company
has halted sales of the black and yellow top in the US and Canada, after it was
adopted by the neo-fascist organisation the Proud Boys.
In a
statement posted to its website, Fred Perry said it was “incredibly
frustrating” to see the polo shirt and its laurel wreath logo become associated
with the group.
The company
said that although it sought to represent inclusivity and diversity “we have
seen that the black/yellow/yellow twin tipped shirt is taking on a new and very
different meaning in North America as a result of its association with the
Proud Boys. That association is something we must do our best to end.”
The
statement continued: “To be absolutely clear, if you see any Proud Boys
material or products featuring our laurel wreath or any black/yellow/yellow
related items, they have absolutely nothing to do with us, and we are working
with our lawyers to pursue any unlawful use of our brand.”
Fred Perry
was founded in 1952 by the Wimbledon tennis champion of the same name and has
been adopted by various subcultures. In the 60s and 70s its polo shirt became
associated with the skinhead movement.
But the
brand has repeatedly spoken out against its use by far-right groups. “Frankly
we can’t put our disapproval in better words than our chairman [John Flynn] did
when questioned in 2017,” the label said in its statement.
“Fred was
the son of a working-class socialist MP who became a world tennis champion at a
time when tennis was an elitist sport. He started a business with a Jewish
businessman from eastern Europe. It’s a shame we even have to answer questions
like this. No, we don’t support the ideals or the group that you speak of. It
is counter to our beliefs and the people we work with.”
The Proud
Boys were created by the Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes in 2016 in the
lead-up to Donald Trump’s election as president. McInnes has since distanced
himself from the organisation, which publicly insists it is not “alt-right” or
white nationalist but has a history of glorifying violence and misogyny.
In 2018 the
FBI classified the organisation as an “extremist group”, while the Southern
Poverty Law Center lists it as a hate group.
Over the
weekend, the Proud Boys organised a pro-Trump rally in Portland. Kate Brown,
the Oregon state governor, declared a state of emergency in anticipation of
“white supremacist groups” coming from “out of town” but far fewer people than
anticipated showed up.
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