The first casualty of war is the truth. What’s overlooked is the quiet insurgency that follows—stitched into hemlines, tucked into pockets, or hidden in plain sight.
During the Second World War, fashion didn’t simply survive—it fought back. In occupied Paris, fashion houses became unlikely battlegrounds. While some courted power, others cloaked resistance. Messages were smuggled inside bolts of cloth. In the Netherlands, women wore flashes of orange—banned by the Nazis—as subtle nods to the exiled royal family. In Italy and Germany, rebels subverted the fascist silhouette with exaggerated collars or irreverent tailoring. Clothing became code. What you wore—and how you wore it—spoke volumes.
Hidden pockets, secret seams, and false linings became standard tools of resistance. In Nazi-occupied Europe, couriers stitched coded messages into collars or tucked maps behind jacket linings. Resistance fighters hid ration coupons in false hems. Even the choice of fabric could signal allegiance. To the casual observer, these garments looked ordinary. But to those in the know, they were often lifelines.
We’re proud to continue this tradition of stealth resistance. At first glance, our Havel tartan looks like just another clan tartan—classic, symmetrical, quietly dignified. Named after Václav Havel, the dissident playwright, it actually depicts an endless succession of prison cell windows struck through in red, protesting the persecution of writers of conscience across the globe.
Last year, we hand-wove 12 Havel Tartan scarves for the winners of the annual Disturbing the Peace award, conferred by the Václav Havel Center in New York. Recipients included Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, jailed Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, and outspoken advocates for free expression such as Martina Navratilova and Peter Gabriel. Each scarf is not only a tribute, but also a statement: words still matter, and therefore, so do those who dare to speak them.
Fashion theorist Roland Barthes argued that clothing is not merely for protection or adornment, but is also a language—one that speaks in codes, signs, and symbols. Today, that language matters more than ever. In a world where many feel increasingly disempowered, isolated, and fearful, fashion offers a proven way back to solidarity.
