Fred Perry Has Stopped Producing Polo T-Shirts Appropriated By US Extremists
Image via The Art of Pics / Shutterstock.com
English fashion label Fred Perry has discontinued its famous polo T-shirt design — the black and double yellow twin-tipped T-shirt — after a US extremist group called the Proud Boys adopted it as a uniform and wore it to the recent Oregon rally.
The brand’s polo T-shirts with its Laurel Wreath emblem have been a fashion icon for many subcultures since their introduction 65 years ago. However, the company will not approve of its branding being appropriated by a group that promotes political violence.
Fred Perry released a statement affirming that it does not have any association with the group, and that it has halted production of the Black/Yellow/Yellow twin-tipped shirt since September 2019.
The company declared that it will not sell the product in the US or in Canada again, until it is “satisfied that its association with the Proud Boys has ended.”
The note, which you can read in full here, ended with Fred Perry revealing that it is engaging lawyers to “pursue any unlawful use of [its] brand.”
Fred Perry does not support and is in no way affiliated with the Proud Boys. Read our statement here.
— Fred Perry (@fredperry) September 25, 2020
The City of Portland is suing Proud Boys members and Fred Perry is discontinuing US & Canadian sales of its brand which the group has adopted as its uniform. https://t.co/NJfMoICWle pic.twitter.com/DqaJgwLlSk
— Sharon Gibson (@SharonGibson3) September 26, 2020
[via Dazed, cover image via The Art of Pics / Shutterstock.com]
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