Professor Andrew Groves, Professor of Fashion Design, was quoted in an article by The Guardian about the Fred Perry logo and the Proud Boys, a far-right male organisation that promotes and participates in political violence in the United States and Canada, who use one of the brand’s shirts as their uniform.
In the article, Professor Groves said: “Its no-nonsense design has enabled it to be reinterpreted by each emerging subculture in a way that gives it additional layered, and sometimes contradictory, meanings. Fred Perry was worn on the terraces at Chelsea but also in the gay bars on Old Compton Street; by skinheads at NF rallies but also by Jamaican rudeboys.”
The article writes: “Groves believes the brand has been able to transcend each decade because of the way it has been reinterpreted by new fashion tribes.”
Groves later added: “It’s ironic therefore to see this particular shirt adopted by the Proud Boys.”
Read the full article on The Guardian’s website.
