Croat Clothing Brand Profits From Tito Nostalgia

Croatian-based clothing company Titos is making sales across the globe, by rebranding the image and slogans of Yugoslavia's one-time communist boss as must-have wardrobe items.

The brand draws on the well known image of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito and the legacy of Socialist Yugoslavia and its slogans about "unity" and the "working people".

"To sell our product on a global level, as one of the most recognisable figures from Balkans we started with Tito. However, we're not connecting the brand with his person or work," Drazen Ljubic, from Zagreb, one of the people behind the clothing brand, told BIRN.

He said the brand was intended mainly for what he called "the new working class", meaning people "who decide to take matters into their own hands, not waiting for the government to find them a job".

Thus, Titos will pitch its advertising mainly at the self-employed.

The company's merchandise includes T-shirts and shirts with hoodies featuring the five-pointed red Communist star - but missing one of the points.

"All of us involved in creating the brand were born during former Yugoslavia, and the five-pointed star here in Yugoslavia was a recognisable symbol," Dragic said.

"However, it's also a universal symbol, from the United States Congress to brands like Heineken or [footwear company] Converse," he added.

The fact that the star is missing one point is intended to symbolise the way people in the Balkans are still "missing something to achieve something great.

"However, despite that symbol, I hope that won't be the case in our work," Dragic added with a laugh.

Although Titos was launched back in 2016, it has gained more recognition in recent months having invested more in marketing.

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