Issue 96 / February 2019

NO HUGO BOSS
Fashion journalist and Scouse fashion specialist Amy Czarnecki investigates
the practice of banning particular branded wear in clubs, the social and class
dynamics involved and the sartorial history that got us here.
KB’d:
“Knocked back” – Term in the north of England for: (1) refusal
of service while trying to buy an age restricted product; (2)
turned down for a date; (3) denied entry to a bar, club or other
establishment.
(1) “Did you get served for our beer?”
“Nah I got KB’d.”
(2) “Is Mike going out with that girl from last night?”
“No way, she KB’d him.”
Saturday night in Liverpool: you’re out, having just piled
out of a taxi at St Luke’s, the Bombed Out Church.
From here you make your way through the cobbled
streets of Ropewalks, having either arrived armed
with a game plan or arguing amongst yourselves over which bar
you’re most likely to get in. If your group is made up of a gaggle
of immaculately made up Scouse girls, the likelihood of getting
into your bar of choice is far greater than if you head to town as
part of a group of brand-loving lads, clad in box-fresh Balenciaga
Arenas and a meticulously chosen branded T-shirt. Think Armani,
Hugo Boss or Stone Island.
Since a rise in violent behaviour in city centre bars of late,
bouncers are growing noticeably stricter in terms of door policy.
Stabbings are increasingly frequent; the tragic death of 21-yearold
Sam Cooke in Empire in October 2017 was shortly followed
by another fatal knife attack in Maya in early February. While
being a Hugo Boss fan by no means implicates one in this type
of behaviour, the easiest way to keep out violent gangs of lads
is to implement dress codes. It’s less personal than a straight up
refusal, which is important considering that attacks on doormen
in Liverpool are steadily on the rise. In 2017, 249 bouncers were
attacked on the job, a figure which has increased every year since
2013, when there were 160 attacks. Many of the larger clubs
simply enforce a blanket ban to keep out trouble; a “no tracksuits,
no brands” policy, whereas the higher end establishments (such
as Empire and Maya) tend to keep track of the codes of dress of
those who cause trouble.
When asked about dress codes, the bouncer on the door of
Maya (which had recently re-opened following the fatal stabbing)
explained: “We’re quite casual but we don’t let certain lads in
“90 per cent of clubs
will KB you for wearing
Hugo Boss. They
associate it with scallies
and that image isn’t
really going to go away”
with sportswear or big brands showing. We don’t mind a casual
shoe but no Adidas, Reebok – we don’t like them on lads.”
A promoter for one of the larger clubs followed a similar set
of rules: “If you’ve got Nike trainers like Huaraches or 110s on,
you’re not getting in anywhere. Armani or Hugo Boss, you’re
getting KB’d at most of the bars in town. Apparently, it’s because
these big brands are associated with gangs, a lot of them are
wearing Armani and Hugo Boss.”
Owen, an 18-year-old sales assistant at a popular
sportswear store, almost exactly echoes this assessment, again
noting that “90 per cent of clubs will KB you for wearing Hugo
Boss. They associate it with scallies and that image isn’t really
going to go away for some time”. Despite this association, he’s
still a fan of the brand, taking care to “never wear Hugo Boss to
go to town, only if I was having drinks somewhere else, or going
to a party”.
It would appear that the majority of Scousers are similarly
undeterred, as Hugo Boss still has two wildly over-performing
stores in the city. Elizabeth, a sales assistant at BOSS Menswear
explained that the brand’s popularity is such that in the lead up
to Christmas, the store stays open late through the month of
December, “easily making up to £70,000 a day”. The brand is
also responsible for creating the navy suits for Liverpool Football
Club, which the players and managers wear to all official formal
engagements.
While brand obsession is by no means exclusive to Liverpool,
this approach to dress is something that was born here, when
Liverpool fans returned from Rome in 1977 having witnessed
the team win their first European cup. It was during these ‘away
days’ that the Scousers began to pick up on otherwise unheard of
European brands such as Giorgio Armani as well as unusual pairs
of Adidas trainers that weren’t stocked in the UK. This formed the
beginnings of what is now known as the ‘football casual’ style,
which went on to popularise the practice of dressing according
to brand names in the UK. This conspicuous approach to dress
is one that stuck firmly in Liverpool; it is certainly something that
I have always been conscious of growing up there, and when I
asked Owen to describe how he likes to dress he immediately
started listing brands. “Day to day, I wear a black Adidas
tracksuit; the black bomber with the three stripes and then the
logo. I’ll wear that with a plain T-shirt and my white Adidas
Ultra Boosts – I’d never wear Nike and Adidas together, though.
That’s a no-go for me. If I’m wearing a particular brand I’ll do my
best to make it like a full set. So, if I’m wearing Nike; Nike shoes,
tracksuit, Nike hoodie – that sort of thing.”
It’s interesting that the ‘scally’ association that Hugo Boss,
Armani and others now carry in Liverpool sort of echoes the
attitudes that were widely held about the casual style of dress
– the very mention of casuals is synonymous with football
hooliganism for many. However, part of the appeal of casual
dress to fans was that it meant avoiding attracting the trouble
that wearing team colours often attracts. With standing pens
having been banned from all stadiums following the Hillsborough
tragedy in 1989, as well as alcohol later being banned from the
stands, rates of ‘hooliganism’, or antisocial behaviour at football
games have significantly dropped. Yet, casual clothing was never
outright banned at Anfield or Goodison. Instead, to combat
violence and knife crime, both of these stadiums now routinely
employ metal detector checks and bag searches upon entry. As
clubs and bars in Liverpool are now beginning to introduce the
same measures, it will be interesting to see which establishments
continue to enforce dress codes as a matter of taste or crowd
control. !
Words: Amy Czarnecki
24