Fashion Nazis

UPDATE: "Danish-Norwegian artist Nina Maria Kleivan dressed her baby as various 20th-century dictators. Left, Adolf Hitler, top right, Mao Zedong, bottom right, Idi Amin." - National Post [Canada] (16 March 2010)

"Anne Geddes Starting To Lose It"- The Onion, Issue 37.25 (25 July 2001)

"Fashion chain Zara withdraws swastika handbag"- "Oddly Enough", Reuters (21 September 2007)

Spanish fashion chain Zara has withdrawn a handbag from its stores after a customer in Britain complained swastikas were embroidered on it. Zara, owned by the world's second largest fashion retailer Inditex, said it did not know the 39 pound ($78) handbag had green swastikas on its corners. The bags were made by a supplier in India and inspired by commonly used Hindu symbols, which include the swastika. The original design approved by Zara did not have swastikas on it, Inditex said. "After the return of one bag we decided to withdraw the whole range," said a spokesman for Inditex, which has more than 3,330 stores in 66 countries.

Zara pulled the bags after 19-year-old Rachel Hatton told Britain's Daily Mail she asked for a refund when she spotted swastikas on her bag. "The shop assistants were quite shocked as well to find out this symbol was on there," she told BBC radio. A British anti-fascism group said the bags were an attempt to legitimize fascism and the Daily Star tabloid newspaper ran a picture of Adolf Hitler next to its story headlined, "Fury over Nazi Fashion Bags."

The swastika is an ancient religious symbol for Hindus and Buddhists, and has represented the sun, strength and good luck to many groups around the world. Since its adoption by the Nazi Party in 1920, people in the West have associated the swastika with Nazi dictator Hitler.

UPDATE: Thank you, come again!

INDIA'S small Jewish community is up in arms over a new line of Indian home furnishings which includes a bedspread named "NAZI" and uses the swastika in its promotional brochures.The furnishings dealer says the word "NAZI" stands for New Arrival Zone of India, but local Jewish leaders say the name rings of [sic] Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic regime.[...] The NAZI-named bedspread is being sold at stores in India's financial capital Mumbai.The new product is promoted with a brochure that displays two red swastikas against a black background.The brochure reads "Bed and Beyond presents the NAZI collection" with the expanded form of the word written in a very small font. The cover has a picture of two red cushions and a red bedspread. "The name has nothing to do with Hitler," said the dealer, Kapil Kumar Todi, denying he had chosen the name for free publicity. "It's just an abbreviation."But Indian Jews – only about 5000 remain after most migrated to Israel and the West over the years – say they are outraged by the gimmick.[...] Holocaust awareness in India is limited and Hitler is regarded by many as just another historical figure. [...]

- Krittivas Mukherjee (Reuters), "Bed and Beyond presents 'NAZI' collection," Herald Sun (30 September 2007)