Lonsdale (brand)

Lonsdale is a clothing brand.

History

Lonsdale receives its name from the eponymous Lord Lonsdale . Lord Lonsdale organised boxing matches in 1909 and was president of the National Sporting Club of Britain . Every boxer who became a champion and defended his title successfully three times received the Lonsdale belt. Bernard Hart , an ex-boxer, visited the Lord in the 1960s and asked for permission to use his name for a clothing brand targeted towards boxers.

Originally founded in London in 1960, Lonsdale produced boxing equipment, before branching out into sports and fashion clothing.

In 1979 Paul Weller of the band The Jam bought some Lonsdale-t-shirts and provided the brand with a good image, as a result of which also non-athletes started wearing the clothing. In the 80s and 90s Lonsdale clothing found favour particularly with Punks, Mods and Skinheads (both left- and right wing). After the turn of the century it became adopted by Dutch "Gabbers".

Lonsdale articles have been worn by many famous boxers, including for example Mike Tyson, Henry Cooper, Mohammed Ali, Lennox Lewis.

Right-wing extremists

The brand is sometimes connected to neo-nazis and the far-right because these groups have adopted it for their own. The owners of the Lonsdale brand are not happy with this image, and are trying to change it. Additionally people (but specifically young adults) in The Netherlands wearing this brand of clothing are frequently referenced by the brand (e.g. Lonsdalers), and this could lead to genericide of the brand in the future.

The association is made because of the contiguous letters NSDA in the brand name, which also occur in the acronym NSDAP of the National Socialist German Workers Party. In connection to this in Germany the brand Consdaple surfaced in Germany, in which the full acronym can be found.

In January 2005 two discos in Groningen, The Netherlands announced they would refuse entry to persons wearing clothing from the brands Lonsdale and Karl Kani . Koninklijke Horeca Nederland , the Dutch "association for bars, restaurants and hotels", did not object to the ban because no discrimination based on skin color, race or creed had been made, but instead clothing. The discotheques pre-announced their decision to ban, something the media picked up on extensively. The ban was rapidly recalled as a result of the attention received.

External links

• Official site