Ever wear your Fred Perry polo to work? Ever sport your casual Ben Sherman pants to the company luncheon? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you might as well forget pursuing your hopes and dreams of becoming an officer in the Berlin police force. Police in Berlin, more directly undercover officers, were banned from wearing Fred Perry, Ben Sherman, ACAB, Alpha Industries, Consdaple, Lonsdale, Pit Bull, Outlaw, Troublemaker, and Thor Steinar for their common association with neo-Nazism. In layman’s terms, officers can’t sport a Thor Steinar sweater simply because of the designer’s popularity among a certain group. According to that rationale, police should be banned from wearing black and white stripes and bright orange too, since they are commonly associated with imprisoned criminals! Now, I am in no way defending neo-Nazi thinkers, I am simply defending man’s right to choose what he puts on his back. This is not a dress code, this is just ridiculous. Do people honestly think that a tiny Fred Perry logo is going to promote neo-Nazism? I highly doubt it. It’s pretty hasty to assume that all people who wear these labels are neo-Nazis or will sway others to believe in their ideals.
Thanks NY Mag!
Dior, Not War.
