The dirt on Von Dutch
Von Dutch is a popular clothing brand here in Switzerland, usually worn by teens and hip hoppers. But, do these folks know about the brand’s namesake? According to the newspaper OC Weekly, “even those who admire Von Dutch don’t call him a nice guy. No, they use words like bitter and racist and violent.” What does this say about those that wear the label?
I grew out of wearing someone’s name plastered prominently on my clothing right around the time Charlie’s Angels went off the air, 
so wearing articles such as the one pictured are a distant concept. Nevertheless, the Von Dutch label first caught my eye about a year ago. I never contemplated buying the gear, but I did like the logo font. For this reason, the story Party-Girls in Nazi-Shirts featuring Halle Berry caught my eye. According to the article (translating roughly here) Kenny Howard, an artist and auto pinstriper nicknamed Von Dutch, was an “alcoholic through and through” and hated “niggers, Bohnenfresser (in German that means “bean eaters” but I have no idea what they are) and Jews” until his death.
Hmmmm.
The OC Weekly article quoted a friend of Howard’s as saying, “He was quite a racist; didn’t like anybody. He had all the trappings of being a neo-nazi. He could not tolerate black people.”
Hmmmm again.
To make sure I would not make a butt out of myself, I scoured the internet to see if the Von Dutch story was a modern day version of the Gloria Vanderbilt - Tommy Hilfiger urban legend. I came up empty.
So here’s my question to you. Should one think about the people behind the labels they wear? Would knowing that Kimora Simmons does not seem like the brightest tack in the pack stop you from donning a little Baby Phat (price notwithstanding)? Would the fact that Foxy Brown itchbay lappsedey a manicurist take the ill out of her fur line’s na na?
What do you think?
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This is why I don’t choose to make myself a billboard. Wearing logos/ads is stupid from so many angles, but the biggest one is you never quite know who or what you’re *really* advertising. I was an intern at the OC Weekly and they have a way of turning up these sorts of things…they even found some less-than-positive stuff on IKEA (I know it’s not clothes, but still…it was interesting).
Hi Angela,
I’m a new fan of the OC Weekly. You’re right. The reporters there have a tendency to dig up some interesting tidbits that don’t make mainstream media.