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Marc Jacobs Introduces … Hitler’s Handbag?
By Carrie Goldberg / January 19, 2010
Designers often credit the music they listen to as the inspiration for their collections. Clearly Marc Jacobs is into showtunes – The Producers’ tune "Springtime for Hitler" has never been illustrated in fashion more vividly than in Jacobs’ Fluo Passementary Lily Hobo Bag from his SS10 accessories collection. You do not need to be a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor or a genius to look at this fashion accessory and see a swastika there.
Marc Jacobs currently has a hand in designing multiple collections, including Louis Vuitton, his namesake collection Marc Jacobs and his more affordably priced Marc by Marc Jacobs line. It’s possible that his being overworked and spread quite thin attributed to his being (dare I say) less detail-oriented as he clearly overlooked this front and center swastika. Although it’s likely that this imagery was not evoked intentionally, CounterfeitChic blogger Susan Scafidi appropriately asks whether there could be another, less offensive way to evoke German style inspirations into our ensembles…as if we often look to the Germans for style tips (sorry, Karl Lagerfeld). Clearly versed on the historic side of the issue, Scadifi points out that although Jacobs’ bag’s image turns to the left while Hitler’s swastika faced right, this image is undoubtedly offensive – or at the very least, jarring and unsettling – to those who recognize it. The intricate detail of the bag may as well be replaced by a Post-It note that reads "Hitler’s Hobo." Perhaps it’s time to lay off the showtunes for a little while, Marc?
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Regardless of what the swastika originally symbolized, it has become a symbol of Nazism, racism and anti-Semitism. For that reason, making that bag is in poor taste.
The symbol does have "pre-modern" meanings, from around the world.  Both Native Americans and cultures from the Far East used the "left" swastika to symbolize peace, prosperity, posterity, and general good health and living.  It is also rumored that, at least in Tibet, this symbol was the gateway to Shamballah, the heaven-within-Earth.
The story goes that Hitler understood this (probably from his study of world art), and sought to use the symbol to advance his own soul towards this place of never-ending light.  He believed that what he was doing was purifying the world, and with his Aryan army (made by Goebbles, et al, he would march across the world, and conquer Shamballah.
I am not sure where I read this the first time (a Will Eisner comic?), but have read and heard other such tales. Â Whether or not they’re true, I think it is all pretty fascinating.Â
Lo yisagoy el goy herev, lo yilmdu od milchama.
I’ve seen this symbol adorning Hindu home shrines in Bollywood movies so I think it must have an alternative meaning predating the Nazis.
It’s not going the direction the Nazi swastika goes in — so it’s not offensive. The swastika as a symbol has a long and rich history apart from a brief dalliance with the Nazis.Â
I think the real problem is how UGLY the bag is!
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